Why Dead Letter Circus Ditched The Computers For An Old School Vibe

Since bursting onto the scene in 2007 with their explosive self-titled EP, Brisbane's Dead Letter Circus have become one of the premier Australian rock acts of the moment. Their first two albums showcased the band's knack for constructing widely appealing progressive rock, while tinkering with delayed guitar effects and minimalist electronics on 2010's This Is The Warning and heavier glitchy electronic sounds on 2013's The Catalyst Fire, before throwing a successful curveball with 2014's acoustic EP, Stand Apart. Their new album, Aesthesis, sees them stepping back slightly from the electronics to produce a rockier sound, thanks to a very different creative process, at least for them.

"We just went into that big room down on the Gold Coast and just fucking went for it. It was just pouring out of us."

"We were all kind of in the room creating it together, rather than each person alone on their computer at home. Maybe that's why there's not as much of this computer-generated stuff on there," drummer Luke Williams begins. "It was a bit more of an organic process this time around ... It was fucking awesome. It was so cool to do a record that way where we kind of went in with one song written... But really, we didn't have any idea on how it was going to turn out. We just went into that big room down on the Gold Coast and just fucking went for it. It was just pouring out of us. We weren't overthinking things too much, which was nice. It made us fall back in love with the creative process again because in times past it's been a little bit like pulling teeth for us. Getting a song out can be quite difficult at times because every member has slightly different tastes."

The first single from Aesthesis, While You Wait, was a bit of a shake-up for them, Williams admitting the decision to make it the lead single was a "hotly debated subject". "It was obviously the most radio-friendly song on the record but it's not really indicative of our style as a band. Management and the label thought it was a good idea to do that one first. I was more toward maybe putting In Plain Sight out first to give fans a taste of the older DLC sound, but it kind of worked out that everyone was just like, 'Fuck it, let's give everyone a taste of a fully fresh direction and hope it doesn't freak them out too much.' Part of the reason for releasing the song was to let other people who weren't fans into the band as well, to show people we're not a one-trick prog-pony."

It's been important for the group to ensure they have the creative freedom to explore desired sounds, and this new record exemplifies that. "We want to push ourselves as artists and you're always mindful of what you've been pigeonholed as — like, we're an alternative prog-rock band — and that's all in the back of your mind and those parameters are flexible in a way; they're malleable and you can play around with them. We've never been too contrived with the sound we're making; whatever comes out, comes out."