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Array run us through each track of their debut EP Save Face

It’s been about a week now since Sydney trio Array dropped their debut EP Save Face, and for that entire time, we’ve had it spinning on repeat.

So fresh off the EP’s release, we caught up vocalist Stanley Doyle for a complete track-by-track run-down.

Fresh off the release of their debut EP Save Face, Sydney-based three-piece Array give us a complete track-by-track run-down.

Staring At The Sun

So many of our favourite albums begin with a huge riff, a freight train of a track that jumps you on the side of the road and steals your kebab after a night out. Nothing overcomplicated, just something that fills you up with a little bit of thunder. Well, this was our go at that. It probably took us half a day to record the whole thing (which tells you all you need to know). It’s about a girl who once told me she doesn’t like red lipstick.

The Atmosphere

I remember so clearly making the earliest demo version of this song. It was the first time I felt as though I’d actually written some half decent music, and that sounded anything like the music that I wanted to make. Since then the track has evolved several times, and has been part of our live set long before we got around to recording it last year. At its core, the song is about teenage house parties. It’s about the first person you meet who won’t shut up for the rest of the night, the stresses you face as a non-cool person walking into a cool party, and later the drunken realisation that doing press-ups on the dance floor might actually help you fit in better.

Youth

Growing up as young teens, we spent at least three-quarters of all our spare time shooting at each other in darkened rooms on our XBOX’s. It’s a rite of passage for any lads like us growing up. We even used to coordinate sickies from school to play Modern Warfare with each other. It was always a right laugh. Trouble is we have friends who never really grew out of it. They don’t work, they don’t go out, they can’t meet new people, they’ve lost friends. Worst of all they’re unhappy individuals. And despite everything, they still can’t kick the habit. This song is written about them, for them.

Washed Away

Our bass player Peppe showed me this simple four-chord idea and vocal part he’d come up with one night. He and I sat in his granny flat knocking back Newtowner’s, sweating like dogs (the place doesn’t have aircon and the temperature had hit 40C that day), and hammered out 80% of the song in about 10 minutes. We agreed the song had to be simple and almost a bit cliche, but also sound uplifting. I added the catchy lead guitar melody and later that week made a full demo of the song with the string arrangement, and now it’s one of our favourite songs to play live, and probably the most diverse track we have instrumentally. You’d have to ask Peppe what the lyrics are about…

*Peppe speaking* “While I was writing the lyrics to Washed Away, some of my closest friends were struggling through some toxic relationships. Like most of the music and lyrics on the EP, I tried to achieve a balance of light and shade. Washed Away aims to contrast the helplessness my friends were feeling with the euphoria of running away from it all.”

That’ll Never Be

This song came about from a 4 bar guitar and bass riff I’d written on the piano in my basement. It really stuck out to me when I put it over a simple dance/rock beat, and sounded quite different to the tracks we’d made before. Before long I found myself writing this story about a girl we know called Gloria. The lines in the verse came so quickly and naturally that when they were all crammed into the song it created a kind of breathlessness and desperation that we’d never achieved before in our music. I think this particularly comes out when we play the track live. The song is about avoiding embarrassment at all costs, in all situations, and the things in life you sacrifice in order to do so (like having fun).

Save Face is available now. Listen above.