Photo Gallery: Tora take us behind-the-scenes of their new album, Can’t Buy The Mood

After the success of their 2017 debut album Take A Rest, which arrived almost exactly two years ago, the future path for Byron Bay electronic four-piece Tora seemed unclear. Throughout the long-spanning 15-track affair, the group showcased their versatility as a band and the many forms their sound can take, from washed-out indie in a similar vein to Radiohead - albeit a little more electronic-centred - to pulsing synth-pop comparable to RÜFÜS DU SOL's more down-tempo and low-key moments, utilising their album's extended duration to truly flesh out their many sides as a complex, multi-faceted group. However, as wide-ranging as the album was musically, it was all bounded by this distinct polish and swagger that Tora have grown into over the years of tried-and-tested singles, hinting that no matter what genre the band move into - electronic; indie; pop; hell, even hip-hop if need be - they'll be just fine.

On their second album Can't Buy The Mood, out the Friday just gone, Tora give a touch more insight into who they are a band - personally, musically, and so very much more. On Can't Buy The Mood, Tora's evolution as a group feels glaringly obvious, largely due to their ability to trim down a wide array of musical palettes into one concise sound - a difficult feat, considering the band's basically a super-group of multi-instrumentalists, songwriters and producers - stripping things away for a sound that seemingly explores the intersection of electronic, indie, and swooning R&B vocals with detailed intricacy and, for the lack of better word, 'chillness'; doing so while tackling larger themes that they often disguise underneath twinkling melodies.

Take Deviate for example, one of the longest-worked tracks on the album some four years in the making, which marks subtle melodies and stripped-back moments with lyrics on "how humanity is spinning out of control on this technological trajectory", or the album's title-track Can't Buy The Mood, a glistening number with lyrics that really make sense considering the title of the track. "The message behind this song is basically that no matter how much money you have, you can’t buy happiness," they say on the track. "When you get too caught up in chasing money, you lose yourself and everything important, leaving you ending up lonely."

Primarily made in Byron Bay (but also worked on in studios across LA, London and Amsterdam), the album is a showcase of the band's artistic vision and multi-disciplinary talent, whether it be the album being completely self-written and produced, or the band doing all the album's shots and covers, ensuring that their complete vision was full realised undisturbed from larger powers that be. It's an incredibly interesting album with an incredibly interesting creation, so to better grasp it, go behind-the-scenes of its recording with a new photo gallery, annotated by the band themselves. Dive into it below, and grab tickets to their forthcoming run of shows on the east coast HERE.

Here is us a few hours before our recent sold out show at Paradiso in Amsterdam. We love that city, hence why we wrote a song about it on the last record. Every time we go back we get the same uplifting feelings!

We are in Europe at the moment promoting our new album and playing some shows here, very lucky to be based ourselves in Berlin for a while. This was us moments before buying a pink bicycle for 20€ from a guy at this bridge in Neukölln, and what a trusty steed she is.

In August 2018 we rented a beautiful house by the beach in Byron Bay. We had another six weeks of focus time together, after six months away from the ideas. During this period we wrote a lot of the ideas that ended up on the album.

Always on the hunt for new sounds, so we tend to find ourselves sampling everything around us, including purring cats.

This photo was captured at Universal Publishing on the day we finished the album, there we were deep in the focus zone making the final tweaks to the mixes and mastering the songs. After 2 years of working on the album, the final day felt so surreal...feelings of relief, sadness, joy, excitement and confusion all at once.

This image was captured back in February 2018 at the beginning of our creative process for the new album, we rented the same house that we worked on our previous album in, which is located in the hinterlands of the Byron Bay area. From the house you can see the ocean, rolling hills and forests all around, it’s a very inspiring place for us. We were working on Morphine at the time this pic was taken.

Behind the scenes shot from the day we filmed the Paramount music video. We shot the whole thing in a single day...what a long day that was.

Towards the end of our first creative binge in early 2018, we spent a week at Rocking Horse Studios. Throughout that week we spent a lot of time mixing and producing some of the first tracks that ended up on the album, all under the watch of a little golden gnome who was flipping us the bird.

In Jan/Feb 2019 we converted Thorne’s garage into a little studio so that we could finish off the album, the only problem was that it was one of the hottest months on record in Aus and our air conditioner wasn’t quite cutting it, we sweated the whole time. We definitely took plenty of smoko breaks and probs had a few too many kebabs, but we finished the songs so I guess it’s a fair trade.

Here we are with Anna also known as Boi the day we finished our collaboration Control. It’s one of the most upbeat tracks on the album, probably because she’s such an energetic and bubbly person you can hear that coming through in the music. Many laughs were had that day.

Tour Dates: 

Thurs 12 September - The Lansdowne, Sydney
Fri 27 September - The Northern, Byron Bay
Fri 4 October - Nocturnal, Melbourne Museum

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