South

Still combining strains of syrupy chart-topping Brit rock of the Coldplay school (which resulted in placement on former Fox hit The O.C.) with a restless rhythmic spirit and ear for outré instrumentation South give anglophile pop fangs on their just released fourth album, You Are Here. Largely dispensing with the hazy studio atmospherics of prior albums You Are Here features some of South’s most directly melodic material, it’s as if the band suddenly realized that some spritely strummed acoustic guitars and chiming electric axes can add to up to a winning tune all on their own if the hooks are strong enough, as they undoubtedly are on tracks like lead single “Better Things.”

It’s the second consecutive album self-produced by the band’s own Brett Shaw and there’s a noticeable democracy in nearly every aspect of the album, including the vocals. In addition to frontman Joel Cadbury’s feathery pipes usual place in the spotlight songs here feature lead vocal turns by both of South’s other members, Brett Shaw and Jamie McDonald. On tracks like the frantic rave-up “She’s Half Crazy” it’s irrelevant who’s rocking the mic, however, as tape manipulation and sound effects warp the voice into a machine manipulated scramble perfectly suited to the songs oddly alluring inscrutability and ear tickling funkiness.

Another batch of uncompromising and well recorded Brit pop with a few more trumpets and organs and a few less mechanical beats than on prior releases, You Are Here is a satisfying addition to South’s musical story so far, in a book that already has many more chapters than the here-today-gone-tomorrow careers of far too many fellow former UK buzz bands. Jamie McDonald spoke with Revielle from London via telephone about South’s album making methods and the key to their longevity.

Reveille: What’s the process like for you guys at this point with making albums since you have your own studio space and self-record?  Do you find yourselves writing in the studio more since you have that luxury?

Jamie McDonald: Typically we demo quite extensively before we start the album proper, this time we left a few songs as just acoustic guitar and vocals before getting into the studio and allowed ourselves to just sort of see what would happen and write the other parts as we went. We had never really done that before and a couple of the songs completed that way turned out to be my favorites on the album. We spent about two months straight just working solidly on the record.

Reveille: At this point could you ever see the band going back to working with an outside producer again or do you prefer keeping it all in house having Brett handle it?

McDonald: I’m not sure how we’re going to feel about it for the next record. We’ve done two records now which were really just the three of us batting it out and we’re happy with how it’s gone and the sound of the records but I wouldn’t rule out working with other people again and having them come in to mix things with a fresh point of view. We’ll just have to see how we feel. It’s a really comforting thing to know that the three of us can make an album totally on our own with the gear that we’ve got. It’s nice to know we’ve always got that to fall back on.

Reveille: Is it a pretty painless process doing it yourselves by this point?

McDonald: It’s definitely not painless, that’s for sure. I have a very low threshold for the amount of times I can listen to a track again and again, luckily Brett has a high tolerance for listening to stuff repeatedly. In that way it kind of works because he’ll do a lot of work on it alone, and then Joel and I can come in and listen back to it and we’ll have a talk about it and give our feedback. Overall we do give ourselves time and space after recording to come in hopefully with fresh ears and revisit the sounds to figure out what works and what doesn’t in certain songs.

Reveille: Although South are certainly know for interesting arrangements and recording techniques I don’t think I’ve ever heard a track from you quite like “She’s Half Crazy” before. Could you describe the process behind that song for me a little and you’re decision to include it on the album?

McDonald: It was one of the songs we weren’t quite sure about putting on the record at one point because it’s pretty out there compared to the rest of it. It grew out of us recording two different songs around the same time that used some of the same parts but really different vocal melodies, we weren’t quite sure what direction to go with either track. Eventually the versions started exchanging parts and kind of morphed into one weird song that’s sort of a wicked party track. Whenever we played it for people it got a strong reaction, some people hated it and some people loved it. That made us know we had to put it on.

Reveille: With everyone in the band proficient in multiple instruments and swapping duties in the studio do you have a set songwriting process within the band or is it pretty wide open?

McDonald: It can work really different ways. What’s cool with this album is it’s kind of the first time that Brett came to the table with finished songs and parts he wanted to sing as well. He was always a part of the process but he never really had finished pieces. We all came to the table with a few songs totally finished for this record and there were others that we left pretty bare and got each other to jam in on. We have a mix of very specific personalities and will all three of us playing guitar, drums and bass it keeps things interesting. We all have different sorts of styles and rhythms we’re comfortable with depending on what instrument we’re playing..

Reveille: Is it difficult bringing songs created that way to the stage since you’re typically not jumping between different instruments all night?

McDonald: Sometimes the sound you got on the record isn’t quite achievable and you just have to go for a different version of it. It’s always a bit of a headfuck to play live and learn each others parts in a way that makes it viable on stage. It’s a bit of work, but after you’ve done the album you’re fed up listening to it anyway and it’s fun to relearn the songs and change them for live performance. I don’t really have any interest in listening to the album at the moment at all but the songs live are really exciting for me. We’re really looking forward to the tour.

Reveille: At this point you guys have been a band for a decade when many of the people who started around the same time of you have already fallen by the wayside. What keeps South together and moving forward as a musical unit?

McDonald: I suppose we just feel like family more so than friends now. We have a really strong bond and we want to make music together regardless of whether we’re getting on that week in the press or not. Occasionally we have to take the odd job because music hasn’t always paid the way but that’s OK, what matters is the band and making music. I’m thinking about the next record already and we’ve already started writing songs. I definitely think we’ll keep going for quite awhile regardless of how this album sells.