On 2020's These Are Not Your Dreams, Australian post-rock trio Sleepmakeswaves threw caution to the wind. Swerving producers and deadlines, they did things on their own terms. For a band that guitarist Otto Wicks-Green says are "always learning", that process left them with plenty to consider for its follow-up.
Multi-instrumentalist Alex Wilson traces the record's origins back to the global shutdown that resulted in a wealth of material, which the band will continue to work through in the years ahead.
"We were suited to being confined to our home studios," says Wilson today. "We wrote close to two hours' worth of material during that period." "We've been in situations before where we've been pushed against a hard deadline and felt the pressure of needing to complete material," Wicks-Green responds. "We'd be freaking out that we didn't have enough material or start second-guessing it. This was the opposite.
We wrote the hell out of ourselves." Of all the lessons learnt from These Are Not Your Dreams, brevity was key. Despite releasing it as a trio of EPs, the band found that fans and media still called it an album.
Consequently, Wicks-Green says they "decided to embrace that and make a really punchy album in the classic style of two 20-minute sides.
"One thing we did really like about that was the opportunity to really stretch out and explore some different ways of being a postrock band," the guitarist reflects. "I wouldn't particularly call it focused; it was all over the shop and I think people found that charming about us. Having had the opportunity to explore with...Dreams and not be answerable to a producer or studio clock, we could put all that experimentation and experience into a more focused process." To ensure focus ruled the recording's roost, the band established a clear democratic approval process. An idea could only ever be furthered if Wilson, Wicks-Green and drummer Tim Adderley were able to justify it.
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JAKKO M JAKSZYK
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A Part & Yet Apart
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Fourth Dimension
The stock of melodic Northumberland-based proggers Stuckfish has been rising since they formed six years ago. Their fourth studio album, Stuckfish IV, represents an important watershed in the band's musical evolution. Co-founders Adrian Fisher and Phil Stuckey tell Prog about the diverse influences that have helped to shape it.
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In the 70s, Barclay James Harvest almost bankrupted themselves by performing with an orchestra, but, several decades on, they’re celebrating last year’s performance with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic, captured on their latest live record, Philharmonic! The Orchestral Concert. John Lees reminisces over the band’s ambitious early years and bassist Craig Fletcher fills Prog in on JLBJH’s upcoming “progtastic” double album.
We've Not Been Expecting You
The unpredictable Frost* are back with Life In The Wires, a bold double concept album that revisits the mood of Milliontown. Bandleader Jem Godfrey tells Prog why he rolled out the solos on a record he describes as the most fun since their dazzling debut.
FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS
Dutch five-piece Lesoir have been steadily gathering momentum over the last 15 years, and they hope to build on that with their latest release, Push Back The Horizon. Vocalist/ instrumentalist Maartje Meessen and guitarist Ingo Dassen discuss the creation of their sixth album, working with Muse's production team, and their dream of bringing their intricate music to new audiences.
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Tony Banks reflects on his role as a 21st-century classical composer.
There Can Be Only One!
Never meet your heroes, or so the saying goes, but Opeth have had a blast working with Ian Anderson on their latest, The Last Will And Testament. Bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discuss the band's proggiest album to date, the return of the growl and why blood isn't always thicker than water.
