Over the past six months or so, I’ve heard a few people argue that the Perth bubble is on the cusp of bursting. These naysayers believe that Australia has simply had enough effects-driven guitar rock for a lifetime, that listeners will stop enthusiastically lapping up psych everyday like their morning coffee.
I’m not one of those people. It’s quite amazing how, week in week out, Perth keeps on delivering. Human Buoy is a rocker who calls himself a part of that rich scene, and has been an absolute beacon of quality since day one.
Today we hear the latest from the man of the west, a disparate and flowy jam fledged by touches of looming armageddon. Anvils is a swan song for the danger of technological reliance, so who better to bring in on guest vocals than a recent preacher for worldwide destruction, Nicholas Allbrook of POND.
Steeped in a creeping reverence for destructive days ahead, Human Buoy and Nicholas Allbrook are an unstoppable combo on Anvils.
The human boy behind Human Buoy is Ben McDonald, who originally wrote the lyrics and music to Anvils for himself. Eventually he realised that the tune called for a feature vocalist, and Allbrook was phoned in to bring a flair for the dramatic.
“I was trying to figure out how to sing the verses and was picturing a Bowie sort of thing. I gave it a hot crack but could really imagine Nick doing it more justice… he came around to my bedroom studio and I recorded him singing the verses in a few different voices. I ended up mixing a few of them together to make an intimate choir of Nicks.”
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/325636985?secret_token=s-GhJh2″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Anvils continues a seemingly faultless sequence from Human Buoy. Concerned with humanity’s over-reliance on technology, this tune walks a thematic line we can expect to hear more of on the artist’s upcoming debut LP Animation Station.
Those familiar with Stephen King’s soon to be adapted megaseries The Dark Tower will find a particular resonance in the themes, the seven book sequence being a main influence on Human Buoy’s current body of work.
If the forthcoming record is any bit as dramatic, commanding and characteristically phenomenal as this teaser, then we’re in for a treat indeed.
