With the release of their new album, ‘Yuck’, Alpine are hitting the road for a string of shows this June and July.
The Melbourne sextet – Lou James (vocals), Phoebe Baker (vocals), Christian O’Brien (guitar), Tim Royall (keys), Ryan Lamb (bass) and Phil Tucker (drums) – released the album's first single ‘Foolish’ on April Fool’s Day (fitting). ‘Yuck’, is a follow-up to their debut album, ‘A Is For Alpine’, which was awarded iTunes ‘Alternative Australian Album of the Year’.
Three years on and Alpine are ready to give us a taste of what they’ve been working on. In those three years, Alpine have been playing live shows worldwide, staring out of tour van windows, enduring long flights, awkward dates and tipsy, late nights in different parts of the world. Somewhere along the way they managed to put that altogether on an album.
Vocalist, Phoebe Baker, explains that ‘Yuck’ is somewhat of a summary of the past few years for the band. “'Yuck' is a reflection of what's been going on over the last few years for me and Lou [James] and the band. There's songs about relationships and even about that kind of yuck feeling when you're in a relationship or something’s happening and it probably shouldn't be happening and you get that sensation where you're just kind of like 'yuckkkk'.”
The songs on Alpine’s sophomore album see the band explore their “yuck” reactions to first-world problems, awkward dates, a distaste for romance, lust when lust was lost, plastic vanity, foolish attraction and ego against ego. “We felt like the title ‘Yuck’ really suited the album and it kind of didn't take itself too seriously. It's a bit playful. I think because we feel more relaxed, and we felt confident with writing this album, calling it 'Yuck' was kind of fun.”
First single ‘Foolish’ was written in a tiny, tour van in North America while listening to 1960s South American pop stars like Milton Nasciment and Caetano Veloso. Phoebe says she’s happy with how it has been received. “I wasn't expecting anything really. It's having a really great reaction, which is awesome. I think it's good. We had fun making it so hopefully that's what's translating.”
Musically, inspiration for ‘Yuck’ came from the desire to push the pop genre to new and often weird places. Guitarist and co-producer of the album, Christian O’Brien, says: “most of the music of the songs came from a textural or harmonic idea that I was curious about. I wanted to see if certain things would work in a pop song.”
In the preceding three years, Alpine also thought about their image. “We spent a lot of time thinking about how we look. In a band I guess there's a lot of focus on image and it's not always fun. So we've been thinking about that,” Phoebe says.
That concept is also written into their new album as they explore their image and the image other people want them to have. “We did [‘Yuck’] over almost the course of a year. So we had lots of time to really hone in on the details.”
‘Yuck’ was produced by Dann Hume (Sticky Fingers, The Rubens, Lisa Mitchell) with Christian by his side. Vocalist Lou James says: “we were lucky to work with Dann again; he’s practically a brother from another mother”.
Dann also produced Alpine’s debut album. “We're so close with him that we can do absolutely anything and feel comfortable and take as much time as you need to perfect something or improvise in front of him. It's all kind of free and loose. He is also just such a great musician himself and gives great feedback and ideas,” Phoebe says.
“It was such a fun process. Some days we would just be drinking champagne and listening to music – we wouldn't even do any work! But then others we'd get lots done.”
To promote the release of ‘Yuck’, Alpine will play a ten-show tour in June and July. “We put a lot of effort into rehearsing for this tour. We're singing a lot of songs and me and Lou have to be really mindful of looking after our voices 'cause it's kind of like you're doing this vocal marathon. We're doing shows night after night so we have to be really, really careful to look after it because the singing is kind of one of the main parts of the show. We want to make it tight, we want to have fun,” Phoebe says.
“This will be the most singing and the longest set we've done. There's a lot of material to cover. The [songs have] range and there's a lot of dynamics. So we're singing incredibly loudly, like almost operatic, and then really quietly and with a breathy voice.”
In preparation for the tour, Alpine have changed their rehearsal regime. “The guys do rehearsals on their own and we do rehearsals with me, Lou and Christian where we're really focusing in on the harmonies and the vocals. And then we all join together for a group rehearsal. So there's all these different elements we're focusing on – getting nerdy about it,” Phoebe says.
Alpine hope their fans will love ‘Yuck’ as much as they do. “We hope it does well because we want to keep doing it, but whatever happens will happen and I think we'll always be musicians and always be writing music. “We're just really happy with this album and we're just feeling more self-assured and more honest and I think that's a good thing. We're excited, bloody excited!”
'Yuck' is released 12 June.
Alpine Tour Dates
Wed 24 Jun - The Gov (Adelaide)Thu 25 Jun - Barwon Club (Geelong)
Fri 26 Jun - Karova Lounge (Ballarat)
Sat 27 Jun - Forum Theatre (Melbourne)
Fri 3 Jul - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Sat 4 Jul - Metropolis (Perth)
Wed 8 Jul - ANU Bar (Canberra)
Thu 9 Jul - The Cambridge (Newcastle)
Fri 10 Jul - Uni Bar (Wollonggong)
Sat 11 Jul - The Metro (Sydney)
