The change is partly the result of working with El-P, the famed American hip-hop artist and producer, and one half of rap supergroup Run the Jewels.
"One of the main reasons [the record] went the way it did was from experimentation very early on with writing the songs around loops," vocalist and songwriter Finn Andrews explained on the phone from his childhood hometown Auckland.
"I’ve been chained to pianos and guitars for so long. The inspiration for the songs came more from the production sometimes. I think that led us down a path that was a little different, and then El-P’s input made that even more extreme.
"He’s great. He’s really quick and intuitive," Andrews says of working with the Brooklyn producer.
"It was really exciting and it all happened very quickly. I wrote lyrics faster than I’ve ever written them before, and spent only one day writing Axolotl from start to finish. It’s a very instinctual thing with him. I tend to radiate more towards worrying about stuff for ages, and then overthinking it, and he took me out of that."
A long-time fan of Andrews’ work, El-P as co-producer sets the mood perfectly, providing beats and soundscapes that make complete sense in the scope of the Veils’ oeuvre, giving Andrews enough space to play his Waitsian characters, while still feeling different and exciting.
Album opener and first single Axolotl shows it all off perfectly; the beat is driving and menacing, creeping towards a sludgy salvation as Andrews goes all-in with his powerful wail on hellfire, devils, popes and preachers, and a single adorable amphibian thrown in for good measure.
"We embraced more of the modern world than we have in the past," Andrews says.
"I think it all came to us at a good time. I think we’d sort of gone as far as we could with some of the intensity of Nux Vomica and Jesus For the Jugular, and it’s nice to be able to take that somewhere else."
With his band often being described as cinematic, and his forthcoming role in David Lynch’s rebooted cult classic Twin Peaks, Andrews also fancies the idea of exploring the theatrical further.
"I sort of think about everything we do as visual. It’s quite a visual band. I’ve been told the songs often evoke that side of things. I think of the songs as having narratives and these strange little characters. I’ve been threatening to make a film for a really long time, so I really should try to get around to that."
Following the release of their debut LP last year (one of my 20 favourite albums of the year), Auckland psychedelic purveyors Sere are travelling Dunedin to perform at None Gallery next week. The foursome make chugging doomy rock, channelling noisy proto-punk pioneers such as The Stooges alongside the shoe-gazer swirliness of neo-psych acts like The Black Angels.
Old time sing-song pair and musical comrades Dunedin’s Flora Knight and Australian bluesman Archer are coming round the mountain to a town near you. On the perfectly named "walkin’, rollin’ crawlin’, billy boilin’, hitchin’, trampin’, fallin’ down and getting back up again swaggin’ tour of Te Waipounamu", the pair of musos will play bush ballads and country music across the South Island, all under their own power. This time we are doing the whole thing on foot, and hitchhiking everywhere, the pair say.
"We are bringing swags and are gonna sleep out under the stars every night, rain or shine! We are sorta tipping our hats to the old swagman traditions and also we both just enjoy getting around walking over the hills and hitching rides with folks anyways ..."
The gig
• The Veils Total Depravity Album Release Tour with support from The Chills, Saturday, February 4 at Re:Fuel. Tickets $54.90 +bf from undertheradar.co.nz.
• Suitable Alternative has a pass to the show to give away. To be in the draw simply email playtime@odt.co.nz with Veils Giveaway in the subject line, and include your full name and contact phone number.
• Sere and guests, Friday, February 3 at None Gallery, Stafford St. $10 on the door from 9pm.
• The walkin’, rollin’ crawlin’, billy boilin’, hitchin’, trampin’, fallin’ down and getting back up again ... tour, with Archer and Flora, Sunday, February 5 at The Galley, Port Chalmers. 4pm until 6pm.
