Music / Premieres
Premiere:
House Deposit - Reward For Effort
House Deposit - Reward For Effort
Today we’re thrilled to be premiering the debut album from Melbourne faves House Deposit - at times comforting and others bitterly frustrated, Reward For Effort is a collection of deft jangle-pop that has us completely floored with its forthright honesty and endearing charm.
Almost a year to the day since their first release, House Deposit’s debut album Reward For Effort finds the group comfortably stepping into their own. While self-assurance may not be the right word, given the album constantly grapples with the turbulence of everyday life, there’s a quiet confidence that flows through these eight tracks that gives the album’s fluctuating emotion a resounding backbone.
Album opener ‘Cruise Control’ serves as a perfect introduction to Reward For Effort, and we’re instantly sucked in by House Deposit’s signature interweaving guitars and restless rhythms, as well as reacquainted with the shared leadership of co-vocalists/guitarists Sam Lyons and Meaghan Weiley. Despite the fact that the band is led by two unique voices - Meaghan wide-eyed and chirpy and Sam unassuming and straightfaced - the songs never feel disjointed or imbalanced. Instead, their two distinct writing styles seem to share a perspective, as if channeling it from different sides of the same coin.
As Meaghan shares “the majority of the songs were written last year in an old apartment I used to live in. Sam and I both had a bit of material we were sitting on for a couple years. A lot of it draws from personal experiences - reckless behaviour, struggles with mental health... plus a few of us in the band had gotten out of big relationships. We just tried to channel all that turbulent energy into these songs.”
When they do separate, it’s interesting to hear the flairs of their distinct personalities. Meaghan’s ’Sometimes, Somehow’ is poignantly endearing, her voice buoyant amongst the ebbing instrumentation, and you can almost see the gleam in her eye as she feigns tenderness on the unpredictable ’Reptiles’. When Sam takes the reins, he’s thrillingly deceiving - on the fiery ‘City Strain’, he’s erratic and volatile and on ’Ikea’, he somehow toes the line between sounding upbeat and disheartened at once.
However, the band truly shine when they’re working as one, highlighted on the album’s undeniable standout ‘House Deposit’. As the track slowly unfolds, Sam and Meaghan weave a disarming melody amongst blossoming guitar chords and crystalline keys, and when things finally do expand, we’re hit with a striking chorus and a soaring sax outro. At over seven minutes long, the track encompasses everything that makes Reward For Effort so special - the effortlessly clever songwriting, the scrappy charm, and the band’s uncanny ability to make things feel warm and inviting in the face of melancholy.
Album opener ‘Cruise Control’ serves as a perfect introduction to Reward For Effort, and we’re instantly sucked in by House Deposit’s signature interweaving guitars and restless rhythms, as well as reacquainted with the shared leadership of co-vocalists/guitarists Sam Lyons and Meaghan Weiley. Despite the fact that the band is led by two unique voices - Meaghan wide-eyed and chirpy and Sam unassuming and straightfaced - the songs never feel disjointed or imbalanced. Instead, their two distinct writing styles seem to share a perspective, as if channeling it from different sides of the same coin.
As Meaghan shares “the majority of the songs were written last year in an old apartment I used to live in. Sam and I both had a bit of material we were sitting on for a couple years. A lot of it draws from personal experiences - reckless behaviour, struggles with mental health... plus a few of us in the band had gotten out of big relationships. We just tried to channel all that turbulent energy into these songs.”
When they do separate, it’s interesting to hear the flairs of their distinct personalities. Meaghan’s ’Sometimes, Somehow’ is poignantly endearing, her voice buoyant amongst the ebbing instrumentation, and you can almost see the gleam in her eye as she feigns tenderness on the unpredictable ’Reptiles’. When Sam takes the reins, he’s thrillingly deceiving - on the fiery ‘City Strain’, he’s erratic and volatile and on ’Ikea’, he somehow toes the line between sounding upbeat and disheartened at once.
However, the band truly shine when they’re working as one, highlighted on the album’s undeniable standout ‘House Deposit’. As the track slowly unfolds, Sam and Meaghan weave a disarming melody amongst blossoming guitar chords and crystalline keys, and when things finally do expand, we’re hit with a striking chorus and a soaring sax outro. At over seven minutes long, the track encompasses everything that makes Reward For Effort so special - the effortlessly clever songwriting, the scrappy charm, and the band’s uncanny ability to make things feel warm and inviting in the face of melancholy.
Have a listen to Reward For Effort above, and catch House Deposit launching the tape on Thursday, November 21st, at the Post Office with Salad Boys (NZ).
