In recent times especially, Meanjin (Brisbane) has showcased an extremely vibrant and exciting scene for sounds that loosely fall into the realms of shoegaze, dreampop, post-punk, alt. rock and myriad sub-genres awash with heavy reverb, cymbal storms, and atmospheric vocals.
As lovers of these sounds and the local artists who create them, 4000 Records' decision to create a time capsule of some of the players at the forefront of this community was an easy and exciting one.
Available on a super-limited run of 120 records (half marbled pink/ half marbled blue) with covers screen printed by No.7 Print House, this compilation titled 'Gazed And Bemused: Hazy Sounds From The Meanjin Underground' has been lovingly curated and assembled by true lovers of the scene.
Here, each band/ artist share a backstory behind each song that features on 'Gazed And Bemused', which will be also available on DSPs in the coming days.
Relay Tapes - 'Landlocked'
A reflection on light and the weight of reality.Wasted - 'You're Happy'
The memory of our times together glimmer through my mind from time to time, the overwhelming feeling of resolution and the hope that 'you're happy'.Locust Revival - 'Second Soul'
This track started out as me just demoing the Benson/ Non-Human audio 'Florist' modulation pedal. After about an hour or so a full instrumental was mostly finished, which just sat on my computer for months.When John [Russell] at 4000 Records approached me about a track for this comp I knew exactly what song to add vocals to and finish off. 'Second Soul' is really a throwback to early Locust Revival with its dream-heavy shoegaze elements colliding with '80s post-punk charisma.
Ancient Channels - 'Looking Glass'
'Looking Glass' is a woozy pop song loosely exploring themes of self-reflection, perception and distorted realities drawing inspiration from the haunting ethereality of Julee Cruise and her collaborative works with Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch.DARLING. - 'Broken Walls'
'Broken Walls' is a song about childhood.Ultra Material - 'Supine'
I don't know if I ever watched the specific 'MythBusters' episode or I just saw this on Reddit, but either way it must be true and just resting with your eyes closed is better than nothing if you can't sleep. I spend a lot of the night just playing asleep.
blue diner. - '(Head Alone)'
'(Head Alone)' is an ambient piece written as a precursor to blue diner.'s second single 'Morningside', with the two often played in succession live.Terra Pines - 'Scatterhead'
'Scatterhead' has existed as an unfinished demo since the early days of Terra Pines. Always luring us back, but never achieving final form until somewhere between the first and second record.It didn't suit the vibe of 'Downbeats', so we put it on the back burner until a more suitable opportunity of release presented itself, and here we are. The vision was a beautiful pop song with big blasts of noise for contrast and tension.
strayfold - 'Easier'
A half-decent lover is never one to keep, despite how hard it might feel to leave them. As sparse as it is explosive, strayfold's 'easier' aches with the inevitable end of a relationship.The Double Happiness - 'Under Her Spell'
'Under Her Spell' was almost called 'The Ballad Of Eve And Niko'. The song explores a communication block between Killing Eve's husband and wife team – Eve and Niko.Eve has been tasked with tracking down Villanelle – the Russian assassin. The job and Villanelle soon become an obsession for Eve, something Niko senses but doesn't know how to address. Eve also senses Niko's confusion and loss, but she feels powerless to stop what is happening. She is under her spell.
Ghost Mutt - 'Skinks'
'Skinks' was written as I came out of deep burnout and started to exist in the present moment again, instead of in a perpetual state of anticipatory stress about the future.I thought the skink population in Brisbane had died out – skink watching was a gleeful pastime of my childhood, and I hadn't seen hardly any for years. Turns out they were still there, but I'd stopped noticing them.
When presence came back into my life I started seeing them everywhere again. The music itself started as a songwriting challenge from Kellie Lloyd – she gave me two chords, a slow tempo, and the word 'spooky' to build around. Once I had the essence of the song the lyrics came through with clarity, a bit of a gift from the universe to reflect in. Long live skinks.
DEAFCULT - 'Terminal'
terminal/ˈtəːmɪnl/
adjective
1: forming or situated at the end or extremity of something – 'a terminal date'.
2: (of a disease) predicted to lead to death, especially slowly; incurable – 'terminal cancer'.
noun
1: the end of a railway or other transport route, or a station at such a point – 'a freight terminal'.
2: a point of connection for closing an electric circuit – 'battery terminals'.
The 'Gazed And Bemused' album will be available to stream digitally on Bandcamp from 23 October; it'll be available on other DSPs from 31 October. It is also available in limited pink and blue vinyl.
