Spread It On

“I'm sitting in some sort of meditation spot in the middle of the rainforest,” laughs Max Doyle. “With a glass of wine... I'll try not to be too zen.” The frontman of Songs is indulging in a well-deserved retreat in Byron Bay as their second album has now been unleashed to the masses, with an east coast tour on the horizon. But things have changed in the Songs camp, with Steve Uren and Jeff Burch leaving shortly after the release of the band's 2009 self-titled debut record, the open opportunity bringing guitarist Cameron Emerson-Elliot and drummer Ben James into the family.

The new line-up saw a “massive, massive difference” to their sound. “Not so much with the songwriting, but just with how everything was put together and sounded,” explains Doyle. “In the first line-up, Ela [Stiles, vocals and guitar] was really new in bands back then so [the other members] were kind of like the driving force of the band. I would just write songs and they would put it into shape. So leaving just Ela and I, we just had to find a sound.”

And lucky for them they came across the awe-inspiring duo who charmed them in and out of the studio. “Ben and Cam joined, they were pretty much the first people we checked out and they sounded good straight away… they're just such different musicians, like Cam is a really amazing guitar player. Ela used to get them to play Hendrix and stuff just because there was someone in the room who could actually do that. So we were in a bit of awe at both of them as musicians.”

Preserving the Songs sound from the past was not Doyle's intention with their second record, Malabar. Instead, the Kiwi expat preferred each member to take the songwriting into his or her own direction and simply jam away. “I never really tried to make it sound like it had sounded [in the past]. I just didn't; it's not my personality to try and push people into particular directions. So we just started jamming [with the new members], but I think both of them were fans of Songs, I think both of them had a bit of an idea of how it should sound when they came to us. And I think they were even surprised that we were sort of letting them run free,” he explains as birds cheep in the background. “So yeah, [Malabar] is way different [to the first record].

Songs took on a much more relaxed approach in the recording process. “I think a lot of this album came out of just jamming, and probably less out of songwriting. And songs are sort of written around jams, which you know, when you work like that it seems really exciting because something's coming together as a collaboration.

“But it doesn't always translate to something that other people are going to connect with. Whereas you know a song, a good chart pop song – and it's got hooks in it and everything – you know it's gonna – well you hope it's going to – connect on a much easier level. So I don't know; it's a lot more jam-y, it started out jam-y, and then yeah we just kind of knocked it into shape. And we had a lot more stuff as well. It was almost twice as long and we had to cut songs out and trim things down.”

Doyle admits he prefers this spontaneous approach to just entering the studio with fully-formed songs and structures. “I just like things to have that spontaneity and, yeah, I've never been comfortable with just working and working and working on parts. So, I think this album might be a really great epic stone in our recording career.”
Working with Mike McCarthy – who also produced their debut self-titled EP (2008) – Doyle got a taste of mixing a record from opposite ends of the world, thanks to the internet. Although this has become a growing trend and a practical way for musicians and producers to complete their records, Doyle's not a fan.


“We worked with Mike, who did our first EP. And we'd always really liked the way that had sounded: it was sort of very simple, everything sounded just clean and as it should. And so, you know, we were looking at all the options we had for this album, and we were just like 'Yeah let's get Mike, it worked the first time.' He'd moved to England but he was back visiting family so we just nabbed him while he was here. But like I said, it didn't really work out in that he had to go back and I don't think that's a great way to mix a record, over the internet.

“I think different things work for different people. And I can imagine – if you've sort of built your record up using computers and tracking things like that, it's probably a natural extension of that, it doesn't make any difference for you whether you're in a room with someone or not. But for me, it's just – I dunno – I feel completely distracted when I'm sitting in front of a computer anyway. For us, I don't think it was great. But in saying that I do think he did a great job. And the guy who did our last album, I don't know why we didn't – there was sort of a bit of a personality clash – but Casey Rice did such a great job with that, I'm hoping we now go back to him as well and give that another go.”
Malabar was named after a coastal NSW suburb, neighbouring Maroubra, which is interesting as a southern region in India shares the name. Though there are Indian musical influences speckled across the new album – mainly Looking Without Seeing – Doyle explains that the album title has absolutely nothing to do with India. “It's funny because Ela in the last few years has spent a lot of time in India. But it's actually more inspired by the suburb in south eastern Sydney,” laughs Doyle. “Far less exotic.”

Doyle then revisits an experience he once had in the suburb of Malabar. “It's like a really strange place, there's like a shooting range there and a horse riding sort of area, and when you're there it's sort of like you're in a different country 'cause of the strange vibe. Like, I'm not a very spiritual person, but I was getting strange vibes and it turned out they were closing the whole area down, like where the horse riding thing is, and I got a bit upset about it. I just thought 'Oh, they're gonna turn this land into, you know, units or something.' So I made that jam on the album, Malabar. And it's pretty meaningless but it's just like, it meant something for that brief time. And then yeah, the Indian thing sort of tied in because Ela was like, 'Oh Malabar is in India as well,' and then it just sorta stuck.” And so the spirit of Malabar lives on.

Songs will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 11 April - Goodgod Small Club, Sydney NSW
Friday 12 April - Primitive Room, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 13 April - Workers Club, Melbourne VIC