How Newcastle’s Lachlan X. Morris is reclaiming the album experience.
After a period of hiatus and introspection, Newcastle’s prolific musical force Lachlan X. Morris is back, announcing his fifth solo album, ‘Illusionaires’, with the blistering power-pop single ‘Nonchalant’.
The album marks a significant return for LXM, his first since 2020’s Muscle Memory, and finds him channelling a timeless blend of jangly hooks and blown-out guitars inspired by the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Elliott Smith.
In a bold move against the disposable nature of modern music, Morris is largely bypassing streaming platforms, opting instead for a physical-focused release that champions “active listening.”
Illusionaires is a raw, anachronistic love letter to the album as an art object, a community event, and a tangible memory, launched with a hometown show at The Stag & Hunter Hotel.
View this post on Instagram
Happy: What’d you get up to today?
I left work early due to some bizarre circumstances. Good day to pack swimmers… I wandered down to the beach for a swim, through the passionate scenes at the Rising Tide event at Nobby’s.
I headed home and pottered round the garden for the arvo before heading back into town for a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the newly re-opened Tower Cinemas.
Happy: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
Lachlan X. Morris: I’m from Mayfield, Newcastle.
I was once asked to describe Newcastle in three words. I went with ‘underdog with heart’, and I still think that pretty much sums it up for me.
I really think the city makes an effort to find its identity for the most part, and I’m keen to be here in another 30 years to see how its travelling, more specifically, the music/arts scene.
It’s come a long way since I started up, playing snot-nosed punk music with The Guppies. I would really like to see an increase in all ages venues though. But hey, always room to improve.
Shoutout to The Stag & Hunter Hotel as my favourite venue (conveniently just around the corner from me) and Hiss & Crackle as my favourite record store/label. They do more for the local scene than they realise.
Happy: ‘Nonchalant’ is the first taste of your new album. What made it the right song to introduce the world to Illusionaires?
LXM: It was one of the first tunes I recorded for the album.
I believe it was the first time I got to record with my custom built 12-string teardrop guitar from Harvester Guitars (shoutout Anthony!)
It felt like a good summary of what the listener will hear overall on the record… pop songs with explosive guitars and harmonies.
It was also the moment in songwriting for the album where I felt energised by the material, feeling genuinely excited to show people these songs.
Happy: Illusionaires is your first solo album since 2020’s Muscle Memory. How do you feel you’ve evolved as a songwriter and producer in the four years between them?
LXM: The time between Muscle Memory and Illusionaires has been a great chance to work with some seriously talented local artists, and just generally learn more about the craft and see what styles I was drawn to.
Leaning on my strengths to start, whilst always keeping the ears open, cause you never know what might trigger a sonic fascination.
I started up a country boogie band called Grand Pricks which has been nothing short of fun, doing a tonne of touring, meeting new people and doing our first proper TCMF.
Got up my hours on the glass slide in no time! Learning more about the legacy of country songwriting and how powerful and accessible it can really be.
Happy: You’ve cited influences like Teenage Fanclub and Elliott Smith. Were there any specific artists or records you were consciously channelling while writing and recording this album?
LXM: By the time I was thoroughly immersed in Grand Pricks, I’d pretty much settled on the fact that I wanted to make a classic feeling power-pop record as LXM, and of course the songwriting of TF and ES are always on my mind somewhere.
Big hooky vocal moments paired with blown-out raw guitar tones was my mission and I trusted in my subconscious inspirations and hours of listening and strumming to achieve that.
A specific influence for some of the more ballad sounding tunes was the solo McCartney catalogue, and a personal favourite of mine, a brilliant album by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello called Painted From Memory. A serious, emotionally charged record that always flaws me.
I was specifically channelling that on my tune Pretty Crimes.
But yes, alot of Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix from Teenage Fanclub are some of my favourite recorded moments, and just feel timeless as far as songwriting and guitar tones go.
Elliott Smith’s influence was more spiritual this time round, his ability to explore whatever was exciting him musically.
Happy: You took a hiatus from LXM in late 2023 to do some “serious thinking.” What did you realize you wanted from the project during that time away?
LXM: What I really needed was less music-related and more in the business of the soul. Figuring out if and then why I wanted to return to the LXM output.
It was probably giving myself time to learn more about songwriting and to feel like I had a choice in what I was doing, not just feeling stuck on autopilot gigging around the same scenes, without feeling or noticing any growth.
I let it unfurl organically, so as not to scare it off, but it’s been flowing really nicely since we picked it back up in the studio.
Preparing for the live shows has been tremendously affirming too, I’m grateful to have such a supportive and dangerously talented band on my side.
Happy: Your decision to largely bypass streaming platforms is a bold one. What is the core philosophy behind bringing “the essence of an album release back to the physical moment”?
LXM: For me, it all comes back to ‘active listening’, or whatever you wanna call it.
No distractions, connecting in the moment to the music. Whether it’s putting the needle down on a record in the living room and sinking in, chucking the cd on in the car, or getting to a live show with some buddies and soaking it up.
That’s how tangible memories are made I believe, with no app involved or some bullshit subscription to worry about.
I’m sure there are people who will find ways to point out that this approach is not suitable for every consumer/listener, but my music also isn’t for everyone. If it all seems to hard of an ethos to adhere to as a listener, I by no means will force you to join the club.
Happy: The physical release has some fantastic deluxe components. Can you tell us about designing that special, tactile experience for your fans?
LXM: I always knew that if I wanted to roll with this old school approach for the album release, then I wanted it to feel like I’d made an effort to make the physical component feel special and exciting.
I made a focus to work with my favourite local creatives in different facets of this.
My dear friend Bray Porter took all the album-related photos and filmed the music videos. We used these photos to do a run of limited edition art cards.
The photos themselves were shot one evening at RTN Studios, in the very live room where we recorded the album. It’s those little nods to the people that make it possible, that’s where the magic lies for me.
I love not only the music from before my time, but the details and approach of it all. With that in mind, I knew I wanted some Gonzo-rock liner notes for the record to add to the folklore of it all.
These were provided by the brilliant and lovely man that is Nick Milligan, another terrifically talented person doing his thing in the creative enclaves of Newcastle (Nick has a brilliant show for Newcastle Writer’s Fest called Words & Music that you should absolutely check out when you can).
Happy: The press photos and album art were created using practical, in-camera effects. What was the inspiration for that hands-on, analog visual approach?
LXM: Boots (Bray Porter) share a love of all things old and vintage in the arts. Cinema, Music, pretty much anything that is carefully curated to make the experience more memorable.
I like to plan these things to a degree, but always leave room for a bit of accidental magic, and this time it was the use of the double-glass window between the live room and control room at RTN Studios.
My reflection in the glass became doubled, tripled, repeated unpredictably depending on lighting and position. This was awfully fun to play with and became a very fruitful endeavour for the session. The back cover is evidence of this.
The front cover was more primal. I believe I was writhing around in a feral manner while Boots snapped away. We ended up with this alien anamorphic thing that has conjoined with the guitar, stuck between worlds.
Happy: Lastly, what makes you happy?
LXM: Being able to make music, an album, a project, a moment with my friends and the talented vibrant scene of creatives around me.
Being able to then share that with people and for it to resonate with someone, that’s a beautiful repercussion that encourages me to do it again.
