Helsinki 4 Eva

Previously, Architecture In Helsinki's brand of pop has been bright and chaotic, defined by neon and cowbells, French horns and childlike vocals. After ten years as a recording band, four full-length albums and a fifth in its final stages, constant learning and self-imposed challenges have seen the band mature over the years. Many reviewers of 2011's, Moment Bends remarked on the new polish present in the album, some lamented the loss of childish innocence, but most conceded the album was a natural stop in the development of a long-sustaining band.

“Music fans often believe early records are the best because they're the most naïve, honest and pure,” frontman Cameron Bird says. “Obviously we don't have the naivety we had when we started out because we've made five records and have been a recorded band for ten years.

“We've always had a philosophy or an unspoken understanding between the band that if we didn't feel like we were being challenged or creatively fulfilled by what we were making with each record, then the band would cease to exist. That's just how it rolls. We would never just make a record for the sake of it.”

One strategy a few years ago was to scatter. For a while there, members of Architecture in Helsinki were stationed all over the world, as farflung as Brooklyn, Brazil and San Francisco. While they all eventually gravitated back to Melbourne, the geographical separation was a definite decision – a stern guard against complacency. “I think that with time, because you have so much more experience and understanding – and baggage I guess when you come to writing a song – it does often make it more challenging. The more you make records, the more challenging it is because, rather than being complacent, it's more about a struggle with feeling like the music you're making… that you still feel it has relevance.

“With each record, you learn a whole bunch of things. For us, we'll always try to use different gear, or a different studio space, or be in a different city. So I think you learn a lot about yourself as a writer or a producer just like that. Because you present yourself with new challenges and that's, for me, how you're able to write stronger songs and songs that challenge you and challenge your audience.”

Bird says NOW + 4EVA is pretty much the sequel to Moment Bends. Again, there'll be that cleaner sound and close production.

“Because of the philosophy behind it and the way we put it together, we're using techniques and approaches that we developed while we were working on Moment Bends. So it's very much indebted to pop music through the last 30 or 40 years. It's really influenced by the Philadelphia soul sound of the '70s, influenced by Top 40 pop songs from when we were kids. There are a lot of touchstones for us in the record, and it really reads as a real tribute without being pastiche-y. That's something we always try to avoid.”