With the release of their latest album, 'Hi Viz', Australian electronic wizards The Presets give us their first new music in six years.
The Presets' last album 'Pacifica' came out in 2012 and one half of the duo Kim Moyes says work on 'Hi Viz' began almost straight away. “We began working on new material for this album around 2013, so it wasn't that long after 'Pacifica' that we decided to get back in the studio,” Kim says.
“From the get-go we knew what we wanted to make. We wanted to get back to basics a bit more and make a really fun record that would be something people could party with.”
The back-to-basics approach dictated that Kim and bandmate Julian Hamilton spend a much longer period than normal in the studio sketching ideas and developing them as much as possible before committing them to recording.
“It took a long time for us to find the pieces of the puzzle we thought would be of the standard we were aiming for,” Kim says.
“We made so much music and really had to let the cream rise to the top over a period of time where we knew that these things were actually going to stand the test of time, as far as we're concerned.”
With the release of 'Hi Viz' at the beginning of June, The Presets will embark on a national tour soon after, with Kim assuring audiences they can expect an audio-visual spectacle for the live shows.
“We've been working on the live show for the past couple of months, and for the past three weeks we've been in rehearsal putting it all together,” he says.
“It feels like the best we've felt ever really and we're really excited; we've got such a great repertoire now, the hardest part is figuring out what to play and what to leave off.
“We spent a month remixing the old material so that it sounded as good as the new material. I'm getting back onto the drum kit for the live show, which will be really fun for me and fun for Jules as well – we really miss that component of our live show.
“We've had a bunch of different artists contribute some custom-made visuals for every song, so there's a whole, new sensory experience as part of our live show now.”
Active since 2003, The Presets exist at the upper echelon of Australian dance and electronic music acts. For Kim, the live shows remain the pinnacle of his work as a musician. “We've put a lot of work into the live show and it's cliched to say, but it really is where the music for us comes to life.
“It's an immediate experience when we can see people really enjoying it right in front of us and when we're all connecting together through the music. It's really special for us and we're really looking forward to it.”
'Hi Viz' is released 1 June.
The Presets Tour 2018
Wed 13 Jun - Metropolis (Perth)Fri 15 Jun - Thebarton Theatre (Adelaide)
Sat 16 Jun - The Forum Theatre (Melbourne)
Thu 21 Jun - UC Refectory (Canberra)
Fri 22 Jun - Waves (Wollongong)
Sat 23 Jun - The Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Wed 27 Jun - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)
Fri 29 Jun - NightQuarter (Gold Coast)
Sat 30 Jun - River Sessions Festival (Mackay)
