Figuratively speaking, to find one’s voice means to develop a unique personality and feel confident displaying one’s individual qualities. Essentially, the same definition applies to the literal procedure of finding one’s singing voice. In March, Melbourne six-piece Lurch & Chief released their second EP, Breathe. The first thing that stands out when comparing Breathe to 2013’s Wiped Out is that Lilibeth Hall now performs the majority of lead vocals. While Hall’s vocals were present on the band’s debut, she played a back-up role to co-vocalist Hayden Somerville. Naturally, the transition into the spotlight encouraged Hall to develop her singing personality.
“I hadn’t been in any bands before Lurch,” she says. “I’m enjoying it. It’s nice to be able to express a bit more and bring out that more powerful, feisty attitude. I’ve gone out a lot over summer and seen a lot of live acts. I think there’s beautiful, intriguing facets of certain performers that are more understated, then there’s the more dominant performers that are in a similar genre to us.”
Hall’s expanded dynamic range is on display throughout Breathe. For the EP’s lead track, ‘Fading Out’, she adopts a tone of imposing confidence that recalls a young PJ Harvey. Meanwhile, on ‘Echo’, Hall incorporates a touch of silky whimsy that gives a nod to Lykke Li.
“I listen to a diverse range of artists, so I try to take away something from them all,” she says. “There’s artists like Banoffee, which is something quite left of what we’re doing, then there’s The Preatures – Isabella [Manfredi] is amazing, I saw her live and she blew me away. People like Portishead, who have the beautiful softness but also that fiery strength, that’s what I want to cultivate onstage.”
The greater focus on Hall’s vocals isn’t all that sets Breathe apart from its predecessor. The six-piece now sounds like a stronger, intuitively congealed unit, which contrasts to the sense of aimlessness that surfaced on Wiped Out’s second half.
“Wiped Out was written over a long period of time,” Hall says. “[The recording] was quite staggered, so it was quite a different process. We were finding what we liked about Lurch & Chief and what worked and what didn’t. You’ve got to do a lot of that before you can home in.”
Despite its somewhat ragtag constitution, Wiped Out’s two leadsingles ‘Mother/Father’ and ‘We Are The Same’ were both picked up by triple j, introducing Lurch & Chief to listeners all around the nation. However, when it came time for EP number two, the band was more interested in flexing its collaborative limbs than replicating past successes.
“We went away to the Grampians [in western rural Victoria] and just wrote a bunch of tracks all together,” Hall says. “So all of the tracks on the EP were actually written over the course of about two weeks. We definitely wanted to explore a lot more of an experimental side and just honour the music that we’d written in a patient way. We all worked pretty closely together to get a unified sound, but that kind of came naturally, writing all the tracks together. They seem more like a group of friends, but it wasn’t too conscious in terms of homing in and making them all sound the same.”
Interestingly enough, the group’s loose-gripped songwriting approach is precisely what led to the increased emphasis on Hall’s vocals. “We just followed the energy of the songs and if that meant my vocals were pushed to the front or Hayden’s were more dominant, then we just let it happen,” she says. “Sometimes we’ll find melodies and it sounds better with my vocals or Hayden’s vocals. I think you’ve just got to respect the music and where it takes you. It’s like a little dragon – it leads you sometimes.”
After 14 solid days of writing and demoing, the band booked time with an old pal, Lindsay Gravina at Melbourne’s Birdland Studios. Over the course of a tri-decade career, Gravina has worked with everyone from Cosmic Psychos and Rowland S. Howard to The Living End, Magic Dirt, Boy In A Box and Clowns. Akin to countless musicians before them, Gravina’s input led to a further evolution in Lurch & Chief’s sound.
“He always has amazing things to offer,” says Hall. “He’s really talented and he’s a very wise guy. He’s had a lot of experience and structurally he’ll help songs and sonically show us different techniques. He definitely has an ear for what he likes in us and really pushes us to explore, which pushes us to new levels.”
Along with his storied career credits, Gravina is well known for his eccentric in-studio behaviour. “He works from 12 until 12-plus, so sometimes you go a bit crazy in the studio,” says Hall. “But I think that’s his strategy – getting it out of you. Some of the best thoughts I’ve had have been when I’ve been very delirious and had little sleep. Sometimes you make the most sense when you’re absolutely beside yourself. It’s nice to tap into that and I think that’s where a lot of creativity comes from. But obviously you’ve got to get some sleep every now and again. If not, you can just have a few whiskys and get weird.”
Ahead of releasing Breathe, Lurch & Chief relinquished their DIY independence to sign with Illusive Records (Bliss N Eso, Stonefield, Owl Eyes). Given the band’s auspicious career beginnings – which saw ‘We Are The Same’ come in at number 174 in the 2013 triple j Hottest 200 – Illusive would be looking to harvest even more success. Yet while they weren’t oblivious to such expectations, Hall says Lurch & Chief didn’t obsess over crafting another radio favourite.
“I guess you’re always somewhat conscious of that, but I try not to be. “I think you’ve got to move forward. I was hoping that people liked the bittersweetness that ‘We Are The Same’ has, which ‘Fading Out’ might have as well, but that was a few years ago and it’s onwards ever onwards, really. I’m just so excited to keep writing, and you can’t be too focused on that otherwise you’ll become a bit stagnant.”
Perhaps she’s right, for not long after its release in February, ‘Fading Out’ became one of triple j’s highest played weekly tracks. Either way, Lurch & Chief’s growing fan base is made plainly apparent by the size of the shows on their current EP tour, which brings them to Newtown Social Club next Friday night. Having recently completed a national tour with Kingswood, Lurch & Chief have quickly adapted to life on the road.
“You never really know what to expect,” says Hall. “One minute everyone will be grumpy, and then the next minute everyone will be laughing, and next minute you’ll be in a sunny apartment in Brisbane jamming and trying to get some sleep here and there, and your eyes are falling out of your head the next day when you have to get up and get back on a plane. We just focus on having a really good time together. That’s what keeps us going.”
Breathe is out now through Illusive. Lurch & Chief play Newtown Social Club onFriday May 22;Moonshine, Manly on Thursday May 21; and the Small Ballroom, Newcastle on Wednesday May 27
