Dumpster: The Sky-Fi Way.

Dumpster launch Sky-Fi at The Zoo on Friday.

It’s not every day that I open an interview with “I didn’t know you could play bouzouki”.

But upon listening to Dumpster’s new album Sky-Fi, I was instantly taken with final track The Way Is Low, where the exotic stringed instrument makes a striking appearance.

“Neither did I,” says Dumpster frontman Grant Nelson with a laugh. “I actually played that song to (former bassist) Stephan and he said it sounded like Brian Wilson trapped in a Greek fishing village! I was like, OK I think that’s a compliment!”

The rest of Sky-Fi is similarly startling, albeit through a generally more conventional format of elevated, powerful guitar rock/pop. Whether it’s the ethereal ballad I Am The Hunter, with theremin-esque squiggles or single Cravin’ Mild with its Bob Mould-style marriage of melody and intense rock crunch, Sky-Fi is a diverse, epic and emotional recording. It’s also as accessible as Dumpster have ever been and distinctly more upbeat than its brooding predecessor See Through Me.

“That was pretty deliberate,” says Grant. “We were trying to be a bit more multi-dimensional. It wasn’t a record where we chose songs thematically. It was purely about the strength of the songs.”

Among the most powerful songs on the album is Sticks N’ Stones, which concerns itself with the thoughtless treatment of disabled people by more insensitive elements of society.

“There was a scene in that movie What’s Eating Gilbert Grape that really stuck with me,” says Grant. “The local town kids were queuing up to look in the window at this kid’s mum who is really overweight. It’s a reasonably light-hearted film, but I remember that scene wasn’t light-hearted at all. I remember watching it and groaning.”

But, essentially Sky-Fi is uplifting. This is evident simply by looking at the sleeve, with its flight imagery and tranquil satellite photography.

The album will be launched with a performance at The Zoo on Friday night, with some special guests.

“Rhubarb’s new album is coming out in a couple of months and their new single will be launched on the same night,” says Grant. “Tim Steward’s doing a solo album at the moment, so he’ll be showcasing some of those songs.”

It must be a good feeling having another long player to plug: there was a rather large gap between See Through Me and Sky-Fi.

“Yeah,” says Grant. “We’re hoping in the future to have releases out a bit quicker.”

So much so, that the band is already recording the follow-up to Sky-Fi!

“We also just finished some new recording with our new drummer and bass player (Jeff Jarrott and Sean Bower). If we get another album out before the end of the year, we’ll be stoked!”

Like See Through Me, Sky-Fi benefits from a superb production from Greg Wales. For the next recording, Dumpster are working with Rhubarb/Leonine member and producer-about-town Caleb James.

“Yeah, me and Caleb are going head-to-head,” says Grant with a laugh. “Naah, seriously it’s pretty good. There are a few tracks on Sky-Fi where it was purely just me and Caleb and they came out really well. I enjoyed everything I did with him, it was really laid-back.”

“Because we’ve got this whole new line-up, I desperately wanted us to get back in the studio, just so the new guys can have a bit more of a sense of ownership about the band.”