Description
New Zealands finest purveyors of psychedelic pop The Times
For fans of Super Furries and Wilco one for the dreamers Mojo
New Zealands The Phoenix Foundation are all set to return with their sixth studio album, Give Up Your Dreams. Its a shrewd and vibrant reminder that in The Phoenix Foundations gloriously absurd world of Technicolour pop its the challenges you set yourself that reap the greatest rewards. Give Up Your Dreams could sound like a defeat but it represents something quite defiant, joyous and celebratory, exclaims co-frontman Samuel Scott of the records infectious rhythmic driven sound and optimistic feel.
Channelling previous album Fandangos beauteous side but this time fuelled by a spit ball of irrepressible energy, Give Up Your Dreams feels like the bands most contemporary offering yet.
With the new addition of drummer Chris OConnor, the album was written taking its lead from the rhythm section for the very first time; paving the way for an all new creative process. I was convinced we had to have a different sounding record, explains Scotts counterpart singer / guitarist Lukasz Buda. So we completely removed any trace of acoustic guitar. It was important to leave room for the band to take it somewhere else and make way for a new vitality.
Thematically and lyrically the group took inspiration from various sources. The dazzling title track is a frank de-glamourisation of life on the road spurred on by a conversation with dear friend, collaborator and fellow New Zealander Lawrence Arabia. The energetic Mountain is the ultimate counterpoint a groove with layers of Television-inspired guitars and dreamscapes about the money men controlling the world. Playing Dead nearly didnt make it further than the cutting room floor but was revived thanks to the photographs in a 1950s Time Life essay on the Ona people of Tierra Del Fuego in southern Chile and their ghost rituals. · Elsewhere, in Jason, Luke sings about both the mother of his children and his band wife (Samuel Scott) being struck down with sciatica and being reliant on string painkillers to function, touching on the fear of ageing in the process. Album closer Myth was inspired by the writings of St. Isidore of Seville who in the 19th Century attempted to compile all human knowledge.
After 15 years together, this album feels like a total rebirth to us, reveals Buda. Its uplifting feel comes as an act of defiance against all our fears in life. Take The Phoenix Foundations advice then: give up your dreams and good things will happen to you too. Scott concludes, Its a mantra about letting go, worrying less, and enjoying your reality instead of always wanting more.
Gold coloured vinyl includes digital download code.
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