STACK October 2016 Issue 144

ulia Jacklin, Gabriella Cohen

and Regina Spektor - not a trio

of gals you want to shake a

stick at. Each has released a stunning

album this month and each lent their

time to us for a few insightful words.

Meanwhile we have a double feature

going on; discussions of Nick Cave's

film and album, as well as Our Tim's

stellar piece on cover artist Bon Iver's

astonishing third album. On top of that,

have you heard D.D Dumbo's latest?

What a time to be alive.

Radas (Music Editor)

JULIA JACKLIN

THE PEEP

TEMPEL

Q1/

Kalgoorlie

is a brutally emotive opener. Have

any or all of you guys spent a lot of time in the

town?

I’ve spent some time there; Steve and Stew grew

up in Victoria, so are yet to have had the pleasure.

Everybody seemed to have a story about Kalgoorlie when

I was growing up. It is a place that has represented hope

for so many over the years, yet has a brutality to it, as do

many mining towns. Originally it was a tongue-in-cheek

country song, filled with clichés about Kalgoorlie. It’s

certainly taken on a darker edge.

Q2/

The car noise – it idles for the whole of

Constable

, and it gives some really vivid imagery.

Why did you guys decide to include it?

The car engine was recorded a year or so before we

went in to make the album. I had an old diesel van that

had done 400,000 kms and had settled into a really nice

tone and rhythm, so we recorded it. We felt the engine

amplified both the personal and geographical isolation

that our man was experiencing in this track. Many people

have used a long drive to reflect upon their existence, we

were trying to recreate that.

Q3/

In the chorus to

Rayguns

, the lyrics go

“’Cos the regime is coming, and they’re all on

ice” – do you mean the drug, or is it the idiomatic

expression?

It’s a reference to the drug. There was an article

written in a major news outlet about ISIS using some

sort of super ice/amphetamine. Which is possibly, even

probably, true. Though if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say

this article was intended to distract, rather than inform.

Australia is like one big Tromp family picnic. Apparently,

someone is coming to steal all our cookies. Thankfully, I

don’t eat cookies.

Flyying Colours

NEWS

MUSIC

hen it comes to romance, the ¾ time

signature takes the red velvet cake – it

could be its connotations with the waltz or

maybe something more mysteriously primal,

but Julia Jacklin attributes her predilection for

it with Leonard Cohen. “I just love everything

that he does,” she says. “I think it’s that song

of his,

Memories

? I just wanted to get that

feeling all the time, that I get when I

hear that song.”

The folk-soaked tracks on

Don’t Let

The Kids Win

certainly do give a similar

feel, but instead of the gold lamé grandeur

Memories

their warmth comes from

a late summer, suburban sun. There are

jangly gems like

Coming Of Age

, evocative

Laura Marling-like tales as in

Sweet Step

and the wonderfully atmospheric

Same

Airport

features finger-picked electric guitar,

with tiny creaks and echoed shrieks in

the background. “We couldn’t figure

out what to do with that song in the

studio,” Jacklin explains.“I

think it was the last night

actually. Then we were like,

‘Let’s get a bit weird. We’ll

turn all the lights off and just

make some odd sounds.’

We were all giggling and

sitting around in the dark,

whacking things.”

The album's title alludes

to Jacklin's comprehension

of maturity, and how to get

there without lamenting

the loss of youth in too

regretful a fashion. "You just

have to be pretty strong;

say to yourself 'Hey, it

doesn't matter.' I do feel

like women kind of get shut

out of things at a certain

age, and I guess I feel that

fear." Expect to hear much

more about this exceptional

woman in the coming

months.

Don't Let

The Kids Win

by Julia Jacklin is

out October 7 via

Liberation.

Read the full interview online at

stack.net.au

The Peep Tempel are about to release one

of the most starkly incredible, ferociously

Australian albums of the year; we chatted

to frontman Blake Scott about

Joy

by The Peep Tempel is

out October 14 via Wing Sing

Records.

INTERVIEW

TOURING

4/11 - 2/12

TOURING

17/11 - 16/12

plus Laneway

2017