In some ways The Presets were a precursor to what would become – within Australia anyway – a mainstream obsession with electronic dance music, or 'EDM' in the States. Their 2008 sophomore album Apocalypso, to put it simply, smashed the collective Aus' music scene like no dance record before it, becoming the first of its kind to win the ARIA for Album Of The Year, which went with Best Dance Release and Best Group gongs.

It's been a few years since that record's domination of the charts – and the twosome's obliteration of the touring and festival circuit – and they're finally back with album number three, Pacifica. Kim Moyes, who together with Julian Hamilton form The Presets' nucleus, has noticed the upsurge in the popularity of that kind of dance music in their time away from the scene. He's not a fan. “Well it's not even just the Australian dance scene. I mean, if you look at the charts in the States – this whole term 'EDM' that's getting around, I mean, it's hideous,” Moyes states matter-of-factly. “We do pay attention to it, I mean it's unavoidable,” he laughs, “you listen to the radio, you know its stuff that's there.

“There's always a large percentage of pop music that is hideous and I just happen to think – to sound like a grumpy old cynical man – the sort of pop music that is kind of really glossy, hyped-up dance music is probably some of the most horrible examples of pop music that I can remember. And while it's not worlds apart from what we do, it's something that we totally – well I'm not talking on Julian's behalf here, I'm just talking on my behalf – something that I find pretty intolerable.”

Unsurprisingly they've been approached to get involved, and thankfully for us, common sense (or is that decency?) prevailed. “There were certain 'pop star' guys who have name checked us as being big influences and stuff, and they wanted to work with us… Personally it's just not what I'm interested in. I'm not interested in just having people jump on bandwagons that you may or may not be a part of in their minds. I'm more interested in following a musical direction that has been set out in my mind.”

Moyes sounds fresh on the phone, although it's not through a heap of down time since the touring cycle for Apocalypso finally finished up – both he and Hamilton have since had children, and it was pretty much straight into working on Pacifica once their second album cooled off. “There was a little break that we had after the final Apocalypso Tour when we just had a few months off and enjoyed some time away from the band and from music, but that was only a small amount of time. And since about September 2009 [we] had been working pretty consistently on the record.” And now it's all about getting back into “match fitness”.

“Even things like physically being able to get the point where I can actually play and not feel like a giant sack of ice-cream. It takes a little bit of effort, you've got to get up early, go for a walk, play the drums a couple of times a day, it's hard,” he jokes. And did the whole 'having kids' thing have much impact on the recording of Pacifica? “I'm sure it did. I mean, with like any album it's a little record of people's lives who've made it. And it's a culmination of experiences up until that point in time. So there's definitely an impact from all the experiences that we've had. Even the hangover of the success of Apocolyso, and the new live set. What it created for us - as a result of the success and obviously the ability to take some time off and take our time in making this record, and having children and all that – it's all fed into the album.

“For instance, the song It's Cool  is an obvious lullaby for Julian's kid that he wrote. But there's also things that are kind of, I don't know, not so obvious, like our point of view as Australians and what we wanted to inject into our music that sets us apart from everybody else. Obtuse things like that as well.”

And although it might sound like The Presets are growing up, the first single Youth In Trouble is not only a dirty, dark techno throbber, but it speaks fairly directly to the youngsters out there that have helped make the band who they are today. Moyes clarifies that they're on both sides of the age fence. “We have liked techno and partying from a very young age, so it's very much a part of who we are, and we built a career around it… On the surface level [Youth In Trouble] is a song talking to the youth and a song that's hands-in-the-air and partying.

“But on another level it's a song about the media's portrayal of the youth and demonizing youth, and saying to everyone that we should be scared of our youth and that we should be worried about our youth,” Moyes continues. “We started the band with very specific ideas in mind, like we wanted it to be very much a thing that you could experience, with high energy, and something you could listen to loudly and something you could lose your mind to. I mean, just because we've grown up a little bit doesn't mean that we want to completely smother those ideas and do a completely adult contemporary record. We still want to stay true to what we feel are the essential Presets ingredients; basically rocking party music.”

And Pacifica is full of said music. It opens with the two lead singles, Youth In Trouble and the much-debated Ghosts (give it time, the drinking-style sea shanty grows on you), and from there heads into a mix of electro-pop anthems before regressing into a few darker, techier moments towards the end. Moyes is fully aware of the expectations that come with following the epic Apocalypso, and he points out the reception to that record was initially not so hot from fans of Beams. “We appreciate that we've gained a lot of fans that expect a certain thing from us but we also want them to have a little bit of faith in the decisions that we make.

“And if they want to stick with us and when I can say, 'Look we've done Apocalypso, we've done My People, we've done that, and now we're moving onto something else'…” Moyes pauses while considering. “We're not completely turning the table or reinventing the wheel, we're just moving forward. We're professionals at what we do and you need to trust us and follow us and if you don't or if you're not into it and it doesn't speak to you, then it's fine for you to bail out and find another band that you can call your own.

“We were painfully aware of the expectation that we needed to fulfill and it made it real difficult at times. Because we'd often cock-block ourselves and it took a while for us to say, 'Hang on a second we need to just do something, we need to do what we've always done and just be true to ourselves'… And I mean, looking back at when we released My People there were people who like Beams who hated that sort of stuff, so you can't please everybody. Any artist would go mad if they were consciously trying to do that and deliver that sort of stuff, and I think the sound of My People and the sound of some of Apocalypso, while it was very exciting, it was a product of a time and that time has come and gone, in our minds. And this is the new era for us.”

Make no mistake, The Presets are back and they are the soundtrack to your summer.

TALK LIVE LIKE THAT
Of course with any new album comes a new live show. The Presets will be debuting at Parklife in a few weeks and Moyes was happy to divulge a few details on how the new set is shaping up. “We've been working on [the live show] the last two months. It takes a while for us to actually put the show together - obviously a lot of it's in the computer and pre-programming. And we have a few of the older songs and remixed them and spiced a few things up. We can't wait to start playing these new songs live… I'm real excited to see [Pacifica tracks] You Can Travel and Go live for the first time, real excited.

“We had a pretty tight, high-octane set when we finished the Apocalypso tour and there were certain things within the set that we didn't feel could go anywhere else. There's a song we started with and a song we ended with, so it was really hard to smash that mould. And then not only that, we've got an album to promote, so we need to get as many new songs in there as possible. So you [end up] making a completely different image out of essentially the same jigsaw puzzle pieces. And that's why we decided to remix a few of the old songs and turn them on their head and update them a little bit more and bring them more into line with what we are doing now. It's just a matter of – we just need to play these new songs and start to fit [them] into the new set; you've just got to dive in the deep end at some point.

“After playing [older songs] for a while they do start to lose their sparkle, and it is nice to think of new ways to inject a bit of spice into them. We've done a really great remix of Talk Like That, which is going to be super fun… Making it a little bit more dramatic and things like that – things that you know are going to work well in a live setting, it's lots of fun to do that.”

The Presets will be playing the following Parklife shows:

Saturday 29 September - Riverstage & Botanic Gardens, Brisbane QLD
Sunday 30 September - Centennial Park, Sydney NSW
Monday 1 October - Wellington Square, Perth WA
Saturday 6 October - Sidney Myer Music Bowl & Kings Domain, Melbourne VIC
Sunday 7 October - Botanic Garden, Adelaide SA