Music / Features
Track by Track:
Boats - Demos
Boats - Demos
From terrifying encounters with the sublime to moments of introspection, Boats’ new EP Demos is a thought-provoking body of work that pushes the boundaries of conventional songwriting to transport us somewhere else completely.
Demos, the latest EP from Boats, is a masterclass in subtle, yet stunning, indie rock, which finds mastermind Blake Paterson showcasing his skilful command of songwriting to paint a conceptual landscape that is grounded in our current world.
With a contemplative tone, Demos feels dystopic at times, and brooding at others, while evoking a vastness and intimacy in others. With track names such as ‘MQ1L’ and ‘North Korean Border’, the EP reads as an exploration of existence - through concepts and events that are pertinent in our current global climate that are often isolated. What's more is that Boats does not take the most obvious approach to these topics, but instead takes on different perspectives to further illustrate these concepts.
The EP itself reveals a thoughtfulness, lyrically and musically. Paterson shows a diversity in songwriting throughout Demos, from the vast soundscapes imagined on ‘Van Diemens Land’ to the immersive choruses of ‘North Korean Border’. The tag line “we’re dancing on the North Korean border” is almost viscerally evocative against the backdrop of the instrumentation. Although, just to maintain my integrity, after having been to the North Korean Border, I did not see any dancing going on - however, we did see two young American Privates singing karaoke to ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth on the bus on the way back. It was a whole thing.
All in all, Demos is a meticulously crafted collection of idiosyncratic art-rock, and while it can be challenging to break into at times, once you begin journeying through the stunning layers of sound you’ll find a whole sonic universe to explore. To learn a bit more about the unique moments across Demos, we had Blake share his thoughts on each track.
With a contemplative tone, Demos feels dystopic at times, and brooding at others, while evoking a vastness and intimacy in others. With track names such as ‘MQ1L’ and ‘North Korean Border’, the EP reads as an exploration of existence - through concepts and events that are pertinent in our current global climate that are often isolated. What's more is that Boats does not take the most obvious approach to these topics, but instead takes on different perspectives to further illustrate these concepts.
The EP itself reveals a thoughtfulness, lyrically and musically. Paterson shows a diversity in songwriting throughout Demos, from the vast soundscapes imagined on ‘Van Diemens Land’ to the immersive choruses of ‘North Korean Border’. The tag line “we’re dancing on the North Korean border” is almost viscerally evocative against the backdrop of the instrumentation. Although, just to maintain my integrity, after having been to the North Korean Border, I did not see any dancing going on - however, we did see two young American Privates singing karaoke to ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth on the bus on the way back. It was a whole thing.
All in all, Demos is a meticulously crafted collection of idiosyncratic art-rock, and while it can be challenging to break into at times, once you begin journeying through the stunning layers of sound you’ll find a whole sonic universe to explore. To learn a bit more about the unique moments across Demos, we had Blake share his thoughts on each track.
Caribbean Gold
Some thought tunnels include, large companies who make huge profits but don't pay tax because they have many offshore bank accounts, that then funnel money through to avoid detection. Large chests of money sitting on Caribbean islands. The people's money. Tax is important for many reasons and can in some cases if used effectively in non corrupt environments allow for human utopias like the social democracies we see in the land of elves and unicorns (Scandinavia).
Falling Off Rainbows
Perpetual dreams of falling off rainbows as a child. Very heavy and intense vertigo, followed by sweat and panic. An ode to an impending fall, a time at which we cannot stop losing altitude. We have so much beauty and colour here on earth, but lately this colour seems to be fading. Written in one day. It's simple and fun. Brendan Jones turned his hand to some guitar work here.
Some thought tunnels include, large companies who make huge profits but don't pay tax because they have many offshore bank accounts, that then funnel money through to avoid detection. Large chests of money sitting on Caribbean islands. The people's money. Tax is important for many reasons and can in some cases if used effectively in non corrupt environments allow for human utopias like the social democracies we see in the land of elves and unicorns (Scandinavia).
Falling Off Rainbows
Perpetual dreams of falling off rainbows as a child. Very heavy and intense vertigo, followed by sweat and panic. An ode to an impending fall, a time at which we cannot stop losing altitude. We have so much beauty and colour here on earth, but lately this colour seems to be fading. Written in one day. It's simple and fun. Brendan Jones turned his hand to some guitar work here.
MQ1L
A love song to the desert killing machines (drones). Ushering it home upon a full rundown of its actions. Asking it to tell us the human story of its sins. If you're going to kill like a robot, perhaps it’s worth telling a story like a human. Again simple, i went through a phase of attempting to write simple songs. Even repeating verses, why do verses need to change?
North Korean Border
A place at which two brothers cannot rectify. A piece of land at such paradox that it creates dystopian goulash. A soup filled with family unity and nuclear war heads. A look to escapism in dance music and the lack of direct call to action within it. The raid alarms are going off but we are still dancing? This like a few other tracks that form this piece of work, Demos is my attempt to break free from traditional songwriting and attempt to turn a typical song structure into a song and dance.
Self Romance
Would it be easier living alone? Would it be easier simply attempting to love yourself rather than yourself and someone else in perpetuity? Could it be possible? Sex robots perhaps? Is it good to give yourself too much love? Can you be placed into a false sense of self by self?
Van Diemens Land
Being lost in the Tasmanian wilderness and contemplating death, given a lack of water and inappropriate adventure clothing for wilderness survival. Could your friend and you potentially never return from the fallen old growth trees and the moss that covers them? Was it worth nearly killing yourself to support and deliver cheese to an environmental activist? The fast food feeding troughs and the tie in with environmental degradation, it's all good if we can blindly stuff our faces and become an obese nation and keep chopping down trees?
The chorus is very much a glory hole, a layering of saxophones, the verses, especially the second verse is grinding to the ear in places, I left it like this to display a greater sense of paradox between verse and chorus. An extreme amount of difference perhaps, not smooth, but neither has been white Australia's involvement on this continent. Right from the outset the land has sent us messages, convicts getting lost and eating each other (Van Diemens Land), this is a harsh land and requires traditional knowledge to handle it (latest fireballs, hell and fury that the recent fire's emailed us).
A love song to the desert killing machines (drones). Ushering it home upon a full rundown of its actions. Asking it to tell us the human story of its sins. If you're going to kill like a robot, perhaps it’s worth telling a story like a human. Again simple, i went through a phase of attempting to write simple songs. Even repeating verses, why do verses need to change?
North Korean Border
A place at which two brothers cannot rectify. A piece of land at such paradox that it creates dystopian goulash. A soup filled with family unity and nuclear war heads. A look to escapism in dance music and the lack of direct call to action within it. The raid alarms are going off but we are still dancing? This like a few other tracks that form this piece of work, Demos is my attempt to break free from traditional songwriting and attempt to turn a typical song structure into a song and dance.
Self Romance
Would it be easier living alone? Would it be easier simply attempting to love yourself rather than yourself and someone else in perpetuity? Could it be possible? Sex robots perhaps? Is it good to give yourself too much love? Can you be placed into a false sense of self by self?
Van Diemens Land
Being lost in the Tasmanian wilderness and contemplating death, given a lack of water and inappropriate adventure clothing for wilderness survival. Could your friend and you potentially never return from the fallen old growth trees and the moss that covers them? Was it worth nearly killing yourself to support and deliver cheese to an environmental activist? The fast food feeding troughs and the tie in with environmental degradation, it's all good if we can blindly stuff our faces and become an obese nation and keep chopping down trees?
The chorus is very much a glory hole, a layering of saxophones, the verses, especially the second verse is grinding to the ear in places, I left it like this to display a greater sense of paradox between verse and chorus. An extreme amount of difference perhaps, not smooth, but neither has been white Australia's involvement on this continent. Right from the outset the land has sent us messages, convicts getting lost and eating each other (Van Diemens Land), this is a harsh land and requires traditional knowledge to handle it (latest fireballs, hell and fury that the recent fire's emailed us).
The Day We Arrive
A time at which we arrive at place of complete enlightenment. Perhaps on another planet. Regardless of planet the enlightenment is powered by artificial intelligence and a singularity of knowledge beams, it will allow our species to survive and flourish. An artist may attempt such a task by themselves but perhaps it's easier to leave it to our new tech God. Andrew Szekeres (Midnight Juggernauts) helped get this over the line.
Let The River Flow
Cotton field water bandits. Murray river darling basin bureaucrats and a compilation of a 100,000 years of indigenous knowledge. Can water be for sale? Is it better to leave things as they are rather than pick the beautiful flower from the plant that sustains it? What if we just leave things as they are, mostly? Thoughts of the Nestle boats floating up the Amazon to sell the natives Nestle products. Mate Simon Lam helped on this.
A time at which we arrive at place of complete enlightenment. Perhaps on another planet. Regardless of planet the enlightenment is powered by artificial intelligence and a singularity of knowledge beams, it will allow our species to survive and flourish. An artist may attempt such a task by themselves but perhaps it's easier to leave it to our new tech God. Andrew Szekeres (Midnight Juggernauts) helped get this over the line.
Let The River Flow
Cotton field water bandits. Murray river darling basin bureaucrats and a compilation of a 100,000 years of indigenous knowledge. Can water be for sale? Is it better to leave things as they are rather than pick the beautiful flower from the plant that sustains it? What if we just leave things as they are, mostly? Thoughts of the Nestle boats floating up the Amazon to sell the natives Nestle products. Mate Simon Lam helped on this.
Listen to Demos above, and follow Boats on Facebook to find out where you can catch him next.
