Snakes And Ladders

On Playmates, Jack Ladder has swapped reverb-drenched guitars for synthesisers and drum machines, creating a slick, focused album. For Ladder, however, it hasn’t been an easy path to follow. “I wanted this record to be fun and maybe there’s a certain element of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he admits. “Hurtsville was really hard to write and record, and ultimately a total pain in the arse to tour and really soured a lot of friendships. It was difficult for everyone, whereas I felt I was in a much better place in my life for this record and I want it to be a very positive experience for everyone that’s involved. And hopefully for people that want to listen to it too.”

Playmates is a dense, richly layered assortment of sounds, which Ladder says was brought about by a desire to make something that sounds less like a band and something much more otherworldly. “Where we wanted to go with the record is to sort of get it out of the mundane. I mean, that’s kind of what art is about for me, it’s creating some other world you can go into and you can sort of crawl inside. This album’s much more expansive; I don’t know how to describe the world that it is yet but it’s definitely much brighter and open.”

It owes some of its expansiveness to its production by Kim Moyes of The Presets, who Ladder said was beneficial in getting him to explore some of the more expansive songs on the album. “He’s got a very strong idea about the way he does things and I just felt I needed something to really kick my arse a bit. And he’s an old friend; the first band I played in was an opening support for The Presets years ago when I was just a chickling.” Two songs also feature vocals from Sharon Van Etten, who Ladder met at a Byron Bay show they played together a few years ago. “She wrote to me online saying she really liked it and if I ever need a hand just give her a bell,” he explains. “She was cool, I mean, she said that she was just happy to take a backseat and contribute whatever she can in the simplest way that she can.”

While there are only a few shows planned so far to promote the album, Ladder says there’s a good chance of a tour once folks have had a chance to listen to the album. “We’re just about to do these initial shows and get the album out and let people hear it and then come back after that. I think sometimes do a tour too early and people haven’t had a chance to listen to the record and you lose a lot of money going to places where people don’t want to listen to you. So we just want to, when we come back to Perth, you know, do it right and make sure everyone’s going to be there to see us.”