From humble beginnings in Wollongong, Jenny Broke The Window now claim that they are first and foremost a Sydney-based band.
Any effort made with keys player Matt Lathlean to discuss the group’s journey from south of Sydney up to the big smoke is shot down immediately, giving the impression the four-piece is trying to move away from the label of a ‘South Coast band’. After being likened to acts like The Maccabees and Mystery Jets, Jenny Broke The Window are currently writing their debut album – a process that Lathlean seems somewhat daunted by.
“We’ve always got a catalogue of 30-second songs and demos, and we’re going through that process now of putting them all together and trying to match them up with what’s going to work as an album. It’s such a big thing to look at – very different from when you’re releasing a single or an EP, which is much easier because you can see the types of songs that you want to put together. Albums are much more of a bold statement that say a lot about a band.”
Luckily for Lathlean and co., things are picking up enough for them to embark on a trip to the UK later on in 2016. In what will be a full-on year for the group, plans have been made to release an EP around June, tour the EP within Australia, then head over to Britain.
“We’ll be going over to the UK to wrap things up with the album,” Lathlean says. “We’re hoping to be over there for the second half of the year to finish up writing, and while we’re there we’re hoping to collaborate with some people. “We’re getting to that point where we can devote most of our time as individuals to making music, but it’s also a very expensive process. Making videos and recording is always super expensive, but any money we make from touring gets reinvested into those things.”
The EP was produced by Tony Buchen in Sydney, with its latest single ‘Airport Love’ hitting the airwaves a few weeks ago. The track builds nicely, featuring strong vocals and some solid synth work, still maintaining that dancey drive that Jenny Broke The Window are known for.
“We recorded the EP with Tony, who has done a heap of work with bands like The Preatures, Bluejuice and Andy Bull,” says Lathlean. “It’s always quite exciting to go into the studio, and Tony is really driven and likes to push the boundaries – nothing is off-limits. He has so much experience under his belt and he just knows what something should sound like. We’ve always been really happy with what he’s put out, and recording the EP with him was a really smooth process.”
Fans should be keeping their eyes out for the ‘Airport Love’ video clip, which is being created by filmmaker Sam Brumby.
“We just finished filming the video for ‘Airport Love’, and we’re in the process of editing it at the moment, so hopefully that will be out in the coming months,” Lathlean says. “To be honest, we didn’t actually have that much to do with the video – Sam Brumby really liked the song, and he’s taken it on board, and if it’s anything like his other work it’ll be really good.”
If things keep running at this pace for Jenny Broke The Window, the Sydneysiders might become too busy globetrotting to even call themselves Sydney-based.
Jenny Broke The Window play Moonshine Bar, Hotel Steyne on Saturday April 9; thenNewtown Social Club on Friday May 6.
