Last summer critically acclaimed all-girl band Electrelane came back together for the first time since 2007. Touring the festival circuit with their favourite live tracks from their back catalogue, the foursome rediscovered joy both in their music and playing together as a band. This year they are touring again, though Perth fans will unfortunately miss out on their thoughtful infusion of musical genres, lilting vocals and well crafted instrumentals. OUTinPerth spoke to Electrelane’s Verity Susman about the band’s renaissance and the chances of a new album.
After four albums; Axes (2001) The Power Out (2004) Rock it to the Moon (2005) No Shouts No Calls (2007) and numerous singles, Electrelane’s Emma Gaze, Verity Susman, Mia Clarke and Ros Murray decided to take an indefinite break. A desire to pursue other academic interests together with a growing fatigue with the touring, lack of money and each other saw the band call it a day. Four years down the track when the suggestion arose to get back together for a tour, the women decided to give it a go. Susman explained;
‘When we started rehearsing last summer before the gigs, it was a really strange feeling like coming home to a house that you used to live in when you were a child that kind of feeling. We know the songs inside out but they were familiar to us from a long time ago – so…when I say a long term it was only a few years… but it was a really strange feeling and there was something really pleasant about that.
‘It did feel as though we could bring a different energy to the songs because we’d had a break and knew what we were doing with them but they were somehow also new to us because there’d been such a long gap.’
The impact that opportunity that the four year break gave the band to create more balance in their lives was reiterated by Susman’s band-mate Mia Clarke in an interview with The Quietus;
‘The difference is massive. I feel like right now is the most successful we have ever been, because we’re enjoying it more than ever. It’s been a heartening surprise, and has resulted in us having more serious discussions about how and when we might make another album. ‘
Susman agreed that a new album was definitely under discussion, though ironically the life balance that has breathed new life into the project is creating obstacles of its own. With the four now living in different countries, jobs, husbands and wives all now have to be factored into creating time to record. And Electrelane being together is an essential ingredient in the creation of a new album. Susman explained that rather than being concept-driven, the band develops albums through collective improvisation;
‘We get in the rehearsal room and people might bring little bits of melody that they’ve been thinking of before but often it’s just one person starts saying something somebody else joins in and then we improvise for a long time something like twenty minutes… and then we go back and listen to that and construct the song from there.’
Susman predicts the new album will be ‘something quite psychedelic’ and a return to the more instrumental style favoured in Axes and Rock it to the Moon but the time apart may see some interesting new directions. The break has given the women a chance to develop independent musical interests – Susman herself is currently studying Studio Composition and is toying with the idea of bringing some of her burgeoning interest in electronic music into Electrelane’s mix.
With a new energy and new skills to bring to their music making, Electrelane’s new album is eagerly anticipated .
Written By Zoe Carter
