Melbourne hard rock quartet Adhesion shift into high gear for their forthcoming sophomore album, 'Premium'.
After establishing a powerful presence with their debut 2024 album 'Unleaded', Adhesion is primed to kick things up a notch for the next chapter of their raucous rock & roll road trip.
"As we know, the first album is called 'Unleaded', we thought we'd roll with that and go one better and call it 'Premium'," founding guitarist Josh May explains. "We want a beefier, bigger sound, slightly heavier. It's 'Unleaded' on steroids."
On 'Unleaded', Adhesion distilled their varied hard rock influences – Metallica, Guns N' Roses and AC/DC – into their own signature blend of high-octane, fist-pumping rock with an old-school flavour.
"We're very aware of what our influences are. We have a guide of 'that sounds too close' and trying to be true to yourself as well," Josh says.
"There's a certain filter. We like '70s rock – our drummer is really into Led Zeppelin and I'm more into '90s, heavier stuff, so it's a good combination of that. I even like Steve Miller Band stuff – it's quite psychedelic but the way it grooves it has a certain threshold. It's just heavy enough, but it's not overbearing."
Released last year, 'Unleaded' has given Adhesion an ideal launching pad for expanding their presence and bringing their sound to more people.
"Everyone that's heard the album say they really enjoy the album," Josh says. "I can't say I've got too much negative criticism, although people might just be being nice. The next part is bringing it to a broader audience."
For 'Premium', Josh says the band is popping the hood and tinkering with the mechanics of their songwriting to create a suitably supercharged follow-up record.
"When you write your second album, you think about all the things on the first album you would have done differently," he says.
"Little details you want to add in and certain techniques I want to use. The funny thing with this one is we had a list of song titles before we even started recording and we went from there.
"We had a song title called 'Plastered', it sounds like a stumbling song walking out of a bar vibe and with that name you get a feel of what the song is going to sound like." Adhesion is planning to release 'Premium' sometime next year.
With their line-up now solidified with Josh on guitar, Jackson Bradshaw on vocals, Stelios Pastelios on bass and Seth O'Donnell on drums (Seth is also the current Australian 5000m Champion and a Nike-endorsed athlete), Adhesion have their sights set on hitting the road for live shows.
"That's the goal now, to play live," Josh says. "We've had bit of a hiatus because some members left and we've gone through a line-up change, but we're solidified now and we're ready to go.
"Just build it up, get another album out there, the more music the better. It's just a constant grind. We're trying to do all the right things.
"At the end of the day, if you've got good music and do good shows, eventually you're going to get noticed. We've got to keep working at it and get it out there, that's the next thing."
'Premium' is planned for release in 2026.
