DeafheavenGeorge Clarke has been doing this — albums, tours, interviews, and so forth — with Californian blackgaze luminaries Deafheaven for five years now, but at least part of the process still unnerves him.
Although his band's new album, their third studio effort, New Bermuda, dropped earlier this month to broad acclaim from critics and fans — as did its predecessor, the highly regarded Sunbather (2013) — Clarke is both curious and not about what everyone thinks of the new work now that it's out in the world at last.
"It's weird; I have a weird relationship to this part of the album cycle, like, right in the very beginning, because on one hand, you are curious to see what people think about your record but, on the other hand, if you spend too much time doing that, it can kinda eat away at your brain a little bit," he tells The Music. "So what I've seen, I'm very, very thankful, very grateful, for people listening. Other than that, I've been actively trying to stay away from a computer [laughs]."
The shadow of Sunbather loomed large over New Bermuda's gestation process, with Clarke saying that the album was made deliberately to feel distinct from its lauded sibling, in some ways making it an album that at least partially was being created by keeping in mind what it shouldn't be as much as what it should.
"Yeah, there were times when we would write something and we'd wonder, 'Is that too much like Sunbather?' or 'Does that have too much of a Sunbather feel?' I definitely feel it was a conscious decision to stray away from it," Clarke explains. "But, at the same time, all the other influences that are on the new record, that's stuff that we've always wanted to incorporate but never had, or had in really small intervals … so when we decided to focus on that sort of change, it came quite naturally, just because we already had been wanting to do that anyway; it just so happened that it also provided an opposite to the way Sunbather was written.
"I think that we're always going to sound like we sound," he continues. "So having these little tiny changes here and there, they don't… the record itself isn't drastically different; it's just inches from the previous one, it just hints at new things, and I think that's kind of the way we are. I think we kind of did that with from [2011 album] Roads To Judah to Sunbather, and we're doing it again here."
To that end, New Bermuda — as with most creative projects — was something of a labour of love for the outfit, with Clarke opining of the record's songs, "They all took work; I don't think anything was too easy."
"I recall that Brought To The Water was the first song that we fully wrote," he reflects. "We had written kind of random parts here and there throughout the record, but as far as an entire song, that was the first one, which was nice … but even that one took so much work. We went through, like, six different versions of that song before it ended up what it is. [laughs] [It's] probably not too far [off], probably just a little more disjointed and awkward."
Also inherent in New Bermuda's creation was an increased focus from the band on tighter songwriting, a more melodic dynamic — almost a greater sense of accessibility — while still keeping one foot firmly planted within the deep. Though the process was not without its challenges, Clarke says he's ultimately proud of the record the band have produced.
"I think so, yeah; by the time it was all said and done, I felt really good about it," he reflects. "I think we took away from the dreaminess but we really focused on melodies and I think there are a lot more hooks on this record. I think there are a lot more memorable parts and leads that get stuck in your head and things like that, and that's really what we aimed for. We wanted to increase the metallic side but also take away some of the atmosphere and replace it with melody and focused hooks.
"By the time you've finished your record, often you're already talking about things to do with the next one. So the idea of making things a little concise and heavier in certain parts, that was something that started a long time ago, so by the time we actually got down to writing a record, that idea was firmly planted and just kind of ran its course."
If, come the close of one album, minds turn to the next, is it safe to presume that Clarke, guitarist Kerry McCoy and the band's other members are already thinking about LP number four?
"Kerry and I talked yesterday about wanting to write new songs," Clarke concedes. "We wrote these songs a long time ago, so, yeah, we're in the very beginning of new ideas.
"I think it'll be a long time before a new album — I'm still very excited about this one — but it's important to continually be creative and better yourself."
