With the news of weather phenomenon La Niña returning to Australia for yet another summer, you might find yourself in need of some frown-reducing, smile-inducing tunes, the kind that brighten up the rainiest of days – Peach Fur would do the job just nicely.
The indie-fusion band are in the midst of recording their debut studio album, the first official full-length release following a steady stream of EPs they've put out since their 2015 debut 'Pleasures & Necessities'."We've recorded all the instrumentation for it," vocalist Denny Hilder says of the new body of work.
"We've already finished six songs, two of 'em are our most recent releases, 'Yummy' and 'Sun Rays', the lead songs of the album. We've got a couple more singles coming out, then we'll do the big baby album drop."
Under the Peach Fur moniker, the band have been on the scene for some time now, releasing three EPs and a handful of standalone singles.
The direction of the forthcoming album will see both a divergence in sound that also retains many Peach Fur similarities from their earlier music, like 'Pleasures & Necessities'.
"Our most recent release, 'Sun Rays', is probably the closest we've gotten to our roots," Denny says. "[The album is] titled 'Earth Radio'; it's basically a big mixing pot of all different genres into one body of work.
"We thought it was a pretty cool concept, which we sort of touched upon unintentionally with what we've previously come out with, but we've taken somewhat of a new direction on genres we've not touched upon – jazz, a disco song.
"The idea is that if aliens were to come down to Earth and listen to a very small scope, simplified [selection] of what some of the planet's genres entail. As we've made progress on it all, we've started to see it come to fruition and reaching our vision, and that's a pretty cool feeling."
Treading into new areas of not just sound and performance, but songwriting, Peach Fur have, particularly in a touring setting, tested the waters with their fans and audience as to the reception to their experimentations.
"We've actually tried to refrain from playing new songs that aren't released yet," explains Denny. "From the ones we have put out, we've gotten an amazing reception, we couldn't be more stoked with the direction.
"'Yummy' being the first release off the new album, that was like totally different to what we've ever done before, being a funk, disco track. The response has been amazing. At some of the shows we've played so far, that's been the one song that gets everyone grooving."
For Denny and the rest of the Peach Fur guys (Benny, Mikey and Liam), their evolution has given them a confidence not just for 'Earth Radio', but how Peach Fur moves forward into its future.
"That's definitely been at the forefront of our creation, is that we never wanted to have to put boundaries in the music, we wanna be able to remain free, to try and stay as open as possible.
"The fact that we have done that in these new ones and it has still gotten just as good reception as our previous music, it does give us confidence in the future with whatever direction we may go."
Fans will be able to catch a live taste of the new material (if you haven't already) when Peach Fur perform at Princess Theatre's first birthday celebrations. Billed alongside BUGS and Jaguar Jonze it's a solid line-up. "It's such a cool, eclectic mix," Denny says.
"We're honestly honoured to be invited on the bill. I think it's going to work really nicely, having all that variation between all the artists.
"It's a cool thing, keeps things interesting, you won't get bored head bopping to the same beat the whole night."
The Princess Theatre building itself is a beautiful structure standing since 1888. Being a Queensland local and a musician, it means a lot to Denny to see the theatre repurposed as a live music venue. "It's the best feeling," he giggles.
"Being from Queensland and to have the history behind a venue that is so revered, yeah, it is the best. It's an awesome thing, [we're] very honoured."
Peach Fur join BUGS and Jaguar Jonze playing Princess Theatre's (Brisbane) 1st Birthday 4 November.
