From Edinburgh to Perth, City Calm Down (CCD) have ventured all over the world in the name of music and are getting ready to do it all again with their third album, 'Television'.
CCD's new record will certainly take a small step away from the band's familiar territory, towards new horizons, working with producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, DZ Deathrays, The Drones) to create a tough and 'poppy' album as they redefine the CCD sound.
“It sort of takes a bit of a turn from what we've done in the past, looking more at a perspective of life... from a couple of perspectives,” CCD's synth-keyboard maestro Sam Mullaly says.
“I think once you've done your second album you start to, I guess, develop a sound or a way of writing that people can recognise. For our third album we thought it was quite important to change that, which is why we wanted to make more of a 'poppy' album.”
The band's successes include an ARIA Top 20 debut of their previous album, 'Echoes Of Blue', multiple sold-out headline tours as well as several Australian and international festival slots.
'Television' follows on from the band’s sophomore album, which saw them explore the frustrations and difficulties of dealing with responsibility, whether it be family related like 'Joan I'm Disappearing' or the sense of social isolation and self-disconnect with 'In This Modern Land'.
“Burke Reid really challenged us to try things differently, so rather than just do things that we would've done on the past records, we took a lot of influences and ideas that we had for this record and then he sort of tried to put us out of our comfort zone and attempt new things rather than doing the things that we're used to doing.
"We learned a lot of lessons in terms of trying new things, new sounds, and new methods of pulling everything together.”
The album also puts forward an important reminder for all in this modern world of ours to listen to other people's perspectives, whether they be congruent with our own or not. “['Television' is] also a discussion on the way people engage with each other, whether it be socially or politically.
“People are often attacking from such different view points that one side is always slinging mud at the other rather than really listening to what people are trying to say and coming together, or at least creating a landscape that allows the discussion to happen in some sort of positive manner.
"We see it a lot at the moment in Australian politics, people are just shutting down the communication from the other side rather than listening.
“We're hoping to release another single in the coming weeks, so people can get another taste before the full album. [Our] rehearsals will start again in August, so we'll be prepping everybody for the new show and then we head away in September.
“So yeah, have a bit of a break, might even start tinkering with some new music again... It's one of those things because by the time stuff starts to come out, it's already been a little while since it's been written. So we'll get ready to go back in and start writing again.”
Written by Cooper Flick
City Calm Down 2019 Tour Dates
Fri 11 Oct - Manning Bar (Sydney)Sat 12 Oct - Lion Arts Centre (Adelaide)
Fri 18 Oct - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Sat 19 Oct - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)
Sat 26 Oct - The Croxton (Melbourne)
