Lou Star, singer of Gold Coast electropop duo Banks Of The Beautiful says their new single, 'Joy', out today, is about the times in life that almost break you.
“Anything worth doing in life is never easy,” she says.
“It’s often, you’re just about broken and things happen and it makes you [whole] again. You’re ready to give up and it all falls into place.”
The song, and the duo’s upcoming album ‘Unscheduled Departure’ that is to be released this year, lyrically comes from a moment just like this in Lou’s own life.
The singer, who was formally an MC under the same name, recently became a mother for the first time and says the experience has changed her as songwriter. “Before that, I was a girl in a man’s industry and I was trying to be tough and hold my own with rapping and the music that I would make.
“After having a child, I think it's softened me a hell of a lot and I’ve found my beautiful voice again.”
But that’s not to say that the duo won’t be experimenting with their sound. “We don’t want to be pigeonholed into one genre.
“We’re just a couple of misfits trying to be cool. There’s so much variety in what you do, you don’t have to be one or the other anymore.”
‘Joy’ is the second single from ‘Unscheduled Departure’.
But Lou says that not every track on the album will be so overtly positive. “Each track has its own life force. Instead of going for a sound it’s just what has gone in the moment.
“We’ve got a track that is kind of like an anthem track, every track is different, there’s a few downer tracks and there is like a dance track.”
Banks Of The Beautiful isn’t just a new direction for Lou. Drummer Andy Woollard has a history in rock and has performed with the likes of Pearl Jam. Lou says that a mutual love for beatboxers and Beastie Boys brought the two together.
Busy family lives mean the duo don’t have a lot of time to spend together on tracks, making for an interesting, but successful process. “I’ll hang at home and jam out some loops and vocal riffs. Because I was MCing it’s all about patterns for me and vocal loops.
"Then I’ll send them over to Andy and he’ll either go, ‘yeah that’s rad’ or I won’t get a reply. Then like a month later he’ll just send me a track; then we get together and do the vocals.”
In regards to the official release of ‘Unscheduled Departure’, Lou says they aren’t sure of an exact date. “There’s no rules anymore [to release an album], so we’re going with the flow at the moment.”
However, you will be able to hear the album in full at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse on the Gold Coast in May. Lou says it will be worth attending, and not only for the music. “We’re gonna have merchandise and we’ve got a food truck coming and it’s gonna be the party of a lifetime.
“The best burgers in the world. After the show, you will be able to see me, in the parking lot, face full of sauce, pigging out.”
