Recovered from their larger-than-life ‘Maximus’ tour in 2017, Kingswood are amping up to start recording their third album.
The Aussie rockers next release will come off the back of their most recent record, last year's ‘After Hours, Close To Dawn’ that saw the band push the limits of their style and their songwriting capabilities.
The change in direction has paid off, with single 'Golden' featured at #68 in the recent Triple J Hottest 100 paving the way for more genre-bending bangers from the group.
Fergus Linacre, Kingswood’s frontman, has been writing new material since the band wrapped their national tour late last year. While long-time co-conspirator and the group's guitarist Alex Laska has been spending time in Nashville.
But the “snippets” he has sent home “sound very cool and very different from in the past,” Fergus says.
“People don’t expect a specific sound from us at all [any more]... People will expect that it’s going to be different again and it gives us free range to experiment with different sounds, which we’re doing.”
In the past, Fergus has talked about the influence of experimental songwriters like The Beatles during the writing process for ‘After Hours, Close to Dawn’. “At the moment, if I was going to sum up the genre that we’re kind of listening for and the direction that we mostly might be heading down, it’s Michael Jackson,” he says.
“We’re listening to Michael Jackson, and hopefully we’re going to see Bruno Mars on the weekend. I think there’s maybe more of that kind of work - dance-y, maybe a little bit more electronic.”
In June, Kingswood are on the bill for the Sea N Sound Festival on the Sunshine Coast. “Playing regional is excellent,” Fergus says.
“The best thing about playing in more regional areas is that, I suppose, people are a bit more starved of acts coming out to play for them? It’s more of an event [than in the city].”
The frontman says it will be an “honour” to share the coastal stage with living legend Paul Kelly. “I’ve never played alongside Paul before,” Fergus says.
“But I saw him at Splendour In The Grass just last year, and it was my favourite gig in the whole festival.”
Fergus also hints at overseas plans for Kingswood once “some new music is happening”. At the moment, everything is possible and the band is aiming high. “We’re really in a good place at the moment,” he says.
“We’re just trying to make music that rivals ‘Thriller’.”
