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Talking Influences with Placement
Talking Influences with Placement
Last week, Placement released their debut EP Lost Sun, an all-enveloping sonic adventure through post-punk and beyond. The band kindly caught up with us to let us in on some of the music and film that influenced the creation of Lost Sun.
Clocking in at a little under 15 minutes, Lost Sun is a blistering introduction to Placement, with a pleasing unpredictability that’s as rough as it is tender. The band play with juxtaposition and dissonance in a way that makes as much sense as it doesn’t; pulling inspiration from a multitude of genres to create a sound that could be neatly pigeon holed as post-punk, but they colour outside the lines and don’t conform to such neat labels. Having formed as a collective of musicians on Kaurna Land (Adelaide) from other bands, Placement comes to us fully realised with a broad and expansive sound, from which comparisons can be drawn to bands past and present, but is distinctly their own.
If borders were open one could envisage Placement spending some time in the UK/Europe amongst the plethora of sonically creative post-punk bands. Easy comparisons can be made in vocal delivery to Dry Cleaning, whilst the ever-expansive cacophony of sound draws similarities to the likes of black midi and Mogwai amongst others. The band also credit direct inspiration from seminal post-punk band Sonic Youth, a band that also expanded upon and diffused what the sound of the genre was. Whilst comparisons can be made to these bands, there is something uniquely Australian about their sound, or even unique to the particular part of Australia that they are from which is alluded to in the press release that accompanied the announcement of Lost Sun; “the isolation of Adelaide (on Kaurna Land in South Australia) and its insular conservatism has its disadvantages for musicians. But it can also be an incubator for bands that are refreshingly out of step with the more traditional music scenes of the east coast”. What the future holds for Placement beyond this three track EP is thrillingly exciting.
The opening song of the EP, ‘Lost Sun’ starts with ambling guitars that make it feel like you’re on a road trip in the desert, the repeated chant of "lost sun" amplifying this. It’s not long until the spoken word delivery intensifies this imagery in the verses, and there’s a certain beguiling quality to the lyrics and the delivery; an epic feeling as the band plays with dynamics, exploding and then imploding until the very end of the song. Capturing the searing heat of where they are from, Malia Wearn (vocals/guitar) shares, “I heard the guitar riff that underpins the song and it instantly made me think of warm hypnotic Australian summer days. I spent many days in my childhood lying on the grass in our backyard lulled by the warmth. I wanted the lyrics to tie into the memory of hot summer days, the haze, the lethargy, the pleasure of your body being fully warmed and getting too hot for a brief moment.”
The next song on the EP, ‘Harder’ opens with angular guitars, with a taut drum beat which feeds into each other, creating a claustrophobic feeling. The vocals suggest a contempt towards a certain person, and despite feeling more direct than the previous track that enigmatic quality remains. By the end the instruments build and build, blurring together until it’s a dissonant wall of sound. What is truly remarkable about Placement is the way that they shift across sonic territory seamlessly, toying with dynamics.
Final track ‘Disintegrate’ sounds exhausted and defeated - stripped back in comparison to the previous tracks, ‘Disintegrate’ develops around a meandering guitar and the pensive percussion creates this sparse atmosphere. However, with a single isolated guitar line and the shimmering sound of cymbals the track reveals a change in direction, like an awakening from the defeated feeling that permeated the start of the song. Thunderous chords overlay the repeated line “disintegrate” and like flying to close to the sun, it all ends in an almighty explosion of sound. The intensity of the heat of Adelaide summer can be heard in a variety of ways throughout the three track EP Lost Sun, tied together with a mysterious quality that makes the entire listen all the more powerful.
Kindly pulling back the curtain of their phenomenally cinematic post-punk soundscapes, band members Alex Dearman, Malia Wearn and Kim Roberts let us in on some of the influences behind Lost Sun.
Sonic Youth
If borders were open one could envisage Placement spending some time in the UK/Europe amongst the plethora of sonically creative post-punk bands. Easy comparisons can be made in vocal delivery to Dry Cleaning, whilst the ever-expansive cacophony of sound draws similarities to the likes of black midi and Mogwai amongst others. The band also credit direct inspiration from seminal post-punk band Sonic Youth, a band that also expanded upon and diffused what the sound of the genre was. Whilst comparisons can be made to these bands, there is something uniquely Australian about their sound, or even unique to the particular part of Australia that they are from which is alluded to in the press release that accompanied the announcement of Lost Sun; “the isolation of Adelaide (on Kaurna Land in South Australia) and its insular conservatism has its disadvantages for musicians. But it can also be an incubator for bands that are refreshingly out of step with the more traditional music scenes of the east coast”. What the future holds for Placement beyond this three track EP is thrillingly exciting.
The opening song of the EP, ‘Lost Sun’ starts with ambling guitars that make it feel like you’re on a road trip in the desert, the repeated chant of "lost sun" amplifying this. It’s not long until the spoken word delivery intensifies this imagery in the verses, and there’s a certain beguiling quality to the lyrics and the delivery; an epic feeling as the band plays with dynamics, exploding and then imploding until the very end of the song. Capturing the searing heat of where they are from, Malia Wearn (vocals/guitar) shares, “I heard the guitar riff that underpins the song and it instantly made me think of warm hypnotic Australian summer days. I spent many days in my childhood lying on the grass in our backyard lulled by the warmth. I wanted the lyrics to tie into the memory of hot summer days, the haze, the lethargy, the pleasure of your body being fully warmed and getting too hot for a brief moment.”
The next song on the EP, ‘Harder’ opens with angular guitars, with a taut drum beat which feeds into each other, creating a claustrophobic feeling. The vocals suggest a contempt towards a certain person, and despite feeling more direct than the previous track that enigmatic quality remains. By the end the instruments build and build, blurring together until it’s a dissonant wall of sound. What is truly remarkable about Placement is the way that they shift across sonic territory seamlessly, toying with dynamics.
Final track ‘Disintegrate’ sounds exhausted and defeated - stripped back in comparison to the previous tracks, ‘Disintegrate’ develops around a meandering guitar and the pensive percussion creates this sparse atmosphere. However, with a single isolated guitar line and the shimmering sound of cymbals the track reveals a change in direction, like an awakening from the defeated feeling that permeated the start of the song. Thunderous chords overlay the repeated line “disintegrate” and like flying to close to the sun, it all ends in an almighty explosion of sound. The intensity of the heat of Adelaide summer can be heard in a variety of ways throughout the three track EP Lost Sun, tied together with a mysterious quality that makes the entire listen all the more powerful.
Kindly pulling back the curtain of their phenomenally cinematic post-punk soundscapes, band members Alex Dearman, Malia Wearn and Kim Roberts let us in on some of the influences behind Lost Sun.
Sonic Youth
Alex: Influences are much like sparks, igniting the possibilities and complexities of our creative selves. Sometimes a visual or aural energy can gently push or manically pull you in a direction you would have never previously considered, presenting one a pathway to authentic composition. The diverse creative spectrum connecting us as artists fuels inspiration without limits. The chaos, dissonance and infectious nature of Sonic Youth has always been an inspiration as far as amalgamating the avant garde with pop sensibilities for me.
Neil Young
Neil Young
Alex: I also find myself drawn to simple, authentic songwriters such as Neil Young or James Taylor. Capturing and conveying true emotion is in my opinion the beauty of music and essential to a good record.
Radiohead
Radiohead
Kim: Radiohead is an obvious one for me. All three of us have been Radiohead fans for a long time and they were definitely one of the first bands that inspired me to move away from learning how to play my instrument by playing other people’s songs to writing my own.
Malia: Radiohead are a big influence on me too, I think that is what I am always aspiring to in music, to make something that is a little strange, but also very listenable and catchy. I was despairing that I would ever see them live, and was contemplating travelling somewhere overseas to see them, back when travelling was still a thing 🙁 but then in 2012 they finally came to Australia, I paid way too much money for a ticket to the Melbourne show on ebay, after it sold out in about 45 seconds, then remembered Queensland hadn’t gone on sale yet, both sets were amazing! We found it really hard to pick one song, but the 'Harder' video clip, which we made ourselves on our iPhones, has moments that were pretty influenced by the 'Lotus Flower' video clip and Thom’s always amazing dance moves.
Film
Malia: Radiohead are a big influence on me too, I think that is what I am always aspiring to in music, to make something that is a little strange, but also very listenable and catchy. I was despairing that I would ever see them live, and was contemplating travelling somewhere overseas to see them, back when travelling was still a thing 🙁 but then in 2012 they finally came to Australia, I paid way too much money for a ticket to the Melbourne show on ebay, after it sold out in about 45 seconds, then remembered Queensland hadn’t gone on sale yet, both sets were amazing! We found it really hard to pick one song, but the 'Harder' video clip, which we made ourselves on our iPhones, has moments that were pretty influenced by the 'Lotus Flower' video clip and Thom’s always amazing dance moves.
Film
Alex: I find film and the works of Jim Jarmusch and Lynch particularly influential as the visual can bend your perception of your own instrument and its role in the composition. Also, Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks.
And coffee.
And coffee.
Lost Sun is out now through Endless Recordings - head to placementnoisemusic.bandcamp.com to grab the EP on limited edition vinyl.
