Jack Ladder Tells Us Why We Need His Ringtones

Sydney-bred casanova Jack Ladder has been riding high since the release of his acclaimed full-length Playmates last year, and now he and his band The Dreamlanders have ensured fans will never be without his dulcet tones again with the unveiling of new ringtone album Playtones.

The album's announcement comes concurrent with the revelation that Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders will be nationally supporting Brit powerhouses Florence & The Machine on their impending How Big Tour - but we'll get to that; for now, let's hark back to a much-missed era when the words "polyphonic" and "Crazy Frog" meant something.

Playtones reimagines every song on Playmates as a ringtone or message alert, and is available for free download on Ladder's webstore. According to a release, "these aren't straight snippets of tracks, but specially selected elements of each song", so none of this business where your ringtone ends up accidentally being a drawn-out intro crescendo that cuts off just in time for the part that would actually make a good ringtone.

Fulfilling your mid-2000s Nokia-style dreams is easy: just download the album folder from the webstore to your desktop, then sync or move the files to your phone, then "sync the sound of your heart to your message alerts". So... pick one.

Thankfully, we've had a little help from Ladder himself in that department. From the mind of Jack:

"If, like me, you’ve had your phone on silent since 2005 because you can’t stand the sound of the thing, then you’ll be excited to hear about the new Playmates ringtones. Playtones.

Integrate everyone's favourite album of 2014/15 into your daily life. Sync the sound of your heart with the sound of your message alerts.

The way a film sound track can transport you to your favourite scene, each tone has been selected as a memory trigger that describes the essence of the song.

Here are some serving suggestions.

Come On Back This Way: Set to alarm. Wake up gently to the sound of last night's hangover.
Her Hands: Set for the ringtone of your “crush". Let the marimba play – do an invisible dance – don’t answer. Play hard to get.
Model Worlds: Set for the ringtone of your accountant or business associate. Be prepared for fiscal risk. Don’t answer.
Reputation Amputation: The sound of the electronic squid shooting black ink. Set for a nemesis. Don’t answer.
Let Me Love You: Marlon Brando on the conga drum. Let him deliver the news of Facebook messenger.
To Keep & To Be Kept: The melody of contentment. Set for life partner. Answer.
The Miracle: The steel drum. Set for timer. Time your boiled eggs. Witness the miracle in action.
Neon Blue: The dolphin's call. Communicating with their minds. You have a new message.
Our Ascension: Prepare for lift off. Set for party pals. Let your phone make you feel good about your life.
Slow Boat To China: The snare drum of agony. You have new mail."

So there you have it - the man behind the music's guide to which of the Playtones cuts will best suit your everyday needs. You can go through and start making your choices with our exclusive first-listen of the sounds below.

If all this extra effort has endeared Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders to you more than previously, then you'll be wanting to see them in the flesh - and, in addition to their freshly announced support slot with FloMo, you'll have a number of opportunities to do so in the near future.

The national tour with Florence isn't till November (check theGuide for dates) but you can get your groove on starting from this Saturday, 29 August, when the band headline the Oxford Street Volumes Festival, before playing a further couple of headline shows over the ensuing weeks - one at The Corner Hotel, in Melbourne, on Thursday, 3 September, and a final headline appearance at Small World Festival, Sydney Park, on Saturday, 19 September.

Tickets for all shows are available through a variety of outlets; see theGuide or check The Music App for more information.

If all of that is still not enough for you, let's play this out with a very special remix of Ladder's suggested 'crush' ringtone track, Her Hands, courtesy of good mate and frequent collaborator Donny Benet. Today is a good day.