Is Keeping Up With Musical Trends Important? Kinda...

"When we sit down to write songs, we’re never trying to create what we’ve done before.”

Ned Russin gets right into it when we bring up the clip for Chlorine, a track that exemplifies the shift from blood-curdling vocals to muted, softer tones. “With these batch of songs we started off with, they just had a completely different identity, and the lyrics and vocal ideas we were coming up with were trying to fit within that identity. 

"I think when you hear the record in context, there’s moments that sound like our older stuff and moments that sound nothing like it; we were just trying not to be held back by any preconceived ideas about what we could do... From the last album we wrote, we’ve all heard and liked new bands, we’ve all had different experiences and done different things, so when it comes time to write, of course it’s going to be different because we’re different people. It was taking those ideas and seeing what happened with it. The songs that made it to the record are the ones that exemplified that.”

Some things have stayed the same, though. Will Yip, who engineered the band’s first two studio albums, has had a bigger influence on this record than ever before. “This is the most we’ve worked with Will, and it worked in our favour. We had a lot of time on this record, over a month, which is good and bad. It’s good because we have so much time to work out every single idea, and it’s bad because we have so much time to work out every idea [laughs]. I’m a very impatient person, and when I feel like something is right, I just want to get it done and move onto the next thing. We were trying out every possible option with every part of every song, so in that regard, it was something new, but Will was able to really dig deep with this record and we were all really trying to make it something special.”

The band have also celebrated a their tenth anniversary in the time between this album and the last, which is as good a time as any to assess the direction of not just the band, but the ‘scene’ as a whole. Russin believes the music landscape has shifted throughout their time together, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it changes anything from the band’s point of view. “I think from the time we started being a band I can already count about two to three major trends in underground music, but the thing is, does it require you to pay attention to it? I think, in some regard, yes, to emulate it or to be involved in something new. But I think it’s interesting, I don’t think everything that’s happening requires every ounce of everyone’s attention. I don’t think it’s mandatory, but I think it’s important. I’m not completely versed in what’s going on in the world of music, but I try, particularly in the areas of music I really enjoy. It requires elbow grease to get the most out of anything. You have to put in a lot of effort, attention and time to do the best you can do, and that’s really important to me.”