Australian indie-pop quartet, The Jezabels insist they’ve ‘cut out the crap’ as they prepare to perform in Manchester as part of their European tour.
The fast-rising act from Sydney are set to perform in Manchester’s iconic Gorilla venue on Tuesday.
The Aussie group have just released their sophomore record, The Brink, taking inspiration from musicians such as Kate Bush, ABBA, Queen and David Bowie.
MM spoke to Hayley Mary, the front-woman of The Jezabels about the new sound of their album and their upcoming tour.
“We’ve cut out the crap,” she said. “It’s conciser, it’s shorter, and it’s happier.
“We played 200 shows in a year, all over the world, supporting Prisoner (their debut album). We were in a worse place, depressed, so we made this new music to feel better.
“The album’s more conscious and visually aware,” she said. “It’s a great indie-pop record.”
And it certainly is, from the infectious groove of ‘It’s Time’ to the sweeping love ballad, ‘All You Need’, the album displays a maturity that many second albums fail to demonstrate, showing them grow in musicianship and popularity.
“My most precious song on the record is ‘All You Need’. It’s cheesy. It’s naïve, and it practically wrote itself. It’s about the notion of love, how it’s unrealistic and shouldn’t exist. I’m really proud of it,” Hayley told MM.
“We listened to a lot of the Cocteau Twins while making the album, they’re one of the few bands that all of us like, like Radiohead and The National.”
You can hear these influences subtly on each of the tunes, but the tracks still sound brilliantly personal to The Jezabels, perfectly executing their unique sound.
“There was a lot of pressure writing this record,” she added. “I mean, I’d love to say it was a free-flowing, natural experience, but this time we had a record label which we hadn’t had before, so you don’t want to let people down.
“In this modern age, we’re extremely lucky to have survived for as long as we have.”
It could be questioned if this is to do with fitting into certain scenes or music cultures. Hayley disagrees with this notion however.
“I don’t think so. Australia is so spread out, it’s only just developing a scene,” she said. “And it’s more electronic.
“We’re not amazingly popular in the London scene either, it’s a completely different music scene.”
Hayley says she always wanted to write songs about moving to the city, as she was raised in a small surf town in Australia.
“There’s a different scene everywhere, in Manchester even, you’ve had your load of scenes, like Madchester,” she said.
“We love playing London when we tour because it’s always the biggest, best show but we love more outside of London, checking out different music scenes.
“I’m really looking forward to touring. We love touring, and prefer it to making the material. I love the idea of getting up, and just playing the songs. That’s rock and roll, isn’t it?”
The Jezabels play at Manchester Gorilla on Tuesday February 25. To purchase tickets, click here.
Image courtesy of gomagoti, with thanks.
