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Interviews

Spacey Jane’s new album wears its heart on its sleeve

spacey jane

Spacey Jane’s new album Here Comes Everybody delivers a message to the up-and-coming youth, in the hope that it can be a guide for persevering and thriving emotionally under the weight of the generational burden that has been COVID and climate change.

Spacey Jane has been blowing our minds since they first caught our attention back in 2018 when they took out the grand prize on our 2019 Needle In The Hay comp with their entry Thrills. 

The Fremantle four-piece has been making a steady trajectory since, and upon the release of their debut album Sunlight in June 2020, has gone on to accrue some serious universal love that saw the album debuting at #2 on the ARIA album charts. The love hasn’t stopped, Booster Seat went on to pick up a few accolades of its own, winning  Song Of The Year at the 2021 ARIA’s, the AIR Awards Best Independent Song Of The Year. It currently sits at over 45 million streams on Spotify alone, with the band hitting over 200 million in total streams. 

With their new album, Spacey Jane has revisited similar themes with Here Comes Everybody, navigating the complexities and the anxiety that comes with being young, and learning how to hold yourself accountable. Caleb Harper (lead singer) wants Here Comes Everybody, to serve as a guide.  “I want it to be a guide to the experiences that are coming for those entering the period of life I’m leaving,” he says of the new album’s aims. “Our first record discussed personal experiences of mine and it was a blessing to see how many people related to those stories, to be for youth persevering and thriving emotionally under the weight of our generational burden,” citing COVID and climate change as two things that can be seen to be holding young people back.  

The first single from their second album, Hardlight was given its First Play on BBC Radio1 with Jack Saunders. Caleb says of the track, “I wrote this song about how I was feeling like my life was a bit like one of those nightmares where you’re at school with no pants.  Except I used the metaphor of being on set and forgetting all of your lines (because it felt less silly).  I guess it’s about anxiety but also just having no idea what I’m doing even though I want it to look like I really do.”

Spacey Jane are all set to embark on a solid lengthy tour, with some shows that have been sold out months in advance. First stop is the UK and Europe this month, followed by a further 24 dates across North America in October and November, including New York, Boston, Toronto and Santa Ana. If you want to catch the band back on home ground, they are set to perform at all of the major Australian summer festivals including Spilt Milk, Lost Paradise, and Falls Festival.

On the eve of their mammoth tour, Caleb sat down and had a chat with us about the launch of their upcoming album Here Comes Everybody.

Spacey Jane
Credit: Sam Hendel

HAPPY: Congrats on the new album due later this month! What’s the message you want to express through Here Comes Everybody?

CALEB:  Thanks! It’s pretty simple:  Lots of people feel like shit, and you shouldn’t have to fight that all the time.

HAPPY: Ashton mentioned that you were kind of like music monks while you were recording the album, did that intense focus lead to a different writing and recording experience compared to Sunlight?

CALEB: Haha, yes we were.  I think so, we were able to live inside the record if that makes sense.  We made more decisions about tiny details but also focused on the record as a whole more than with Sunlight.

HAPPY: Which unreleased track are you most excited for everyone to hear? Any reason in particular?

CALEB: Hmmm maybe Yet?  I just love the mood of the whole song and the chorus is both uplifting and melancholy, which is the perfect balance for me.

HAPPY: There’s a track on the album called Haircut. What’s the worst haircut you’ve all had?

CALEB: God, pretty much every one until I was 15.  I used to get the full military spec, buzz cut, and my head is not shaped for that…

HAPPY: You obviously related to a lot of people through Sunlight. Is that one of the main things you want to achieve through your music?

CALEB: Definitely. For all of us, it’s probably the most rewarding part of what we do. Without those people, this band doesn’t exist, so we’re very grateful for that.

HAPPY: The Hardlight video is absolutely stunning, rocking out on a boat is such a sick visual. How long were you on the boat that day?

CALEB: Honestly not that long. Maybe 5 hours in total and it was so fun.

HAPPY: Do any of you get seasick?

CALEB: I don’t personally and I don’t think anyone else did that day.  It was pretty calm on the Yarra!

HAPPY: We’ve got our Needle in the Hay song competition running at the moment, which Kieran is helping judge this year. Back in 2018 you won the whole comp with Thrills and picked up a bunch of 7-inch records and a shit tonne of Beach Burrito vouchers. What sort of impact did that have on your career? And have you been able to eat Beach Burrito again since?

CALEB: It was so awesome for us!  We were so stoked with that accolade. But I’m pretty sure we only ate there once because there are no Beach Burritos in Perth.

HAPPY: Spacey’s growth kind of went next level during the pandemic. Was there a particular moment when you realised that you were becoming proper huge?

CALEB: I guess Booster Seat making it to number 2 in the H100 was a pretty big moment for us.  It definitely helped us visualise how many people were loving the music at the time.

HAPPY: What was the feeling like amongst the band when you had that realisation?

CALEB: I’m not sure it had a huge impact on us except to motivate us even more.  It always feels like there’s another hill to climb so we just kept focusing on that!

HAPPY: Was there a massive jump in crowd sizes when you were able to perform again after lockdown? Or were you able to sneak in enough shows that it was less extreme?

CALEB: Yea we definitely noticed that change!  Because of the density limits around covid we ended up doing a lot of multiple plays in each city so that eased the shock for sure.

HAPPY: Have you got any killer knowledge you’re keen to pass on to young musicians who might be feeling a little directionless in the current state of the world?

CALEB: Just keep writing and playing as much as possible and trust your gut!!

Here Comes Everybody will be out on all streaming platforms this Friday, 24 June. Pre-save here.

Check out Spacey Jane’s upcoming tour dates below.

 

SPACEY JANE AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES FOR HERE COMES EVERYBODY 

Friday 5 August | Perth Arena, Perth WA *AA

Thursday 11 August | Big Top, Sydney NSW 18+/AA – NEW SHOW

Friday 12 August | Big Top, Sydney NSW 18+

Saturday 13 August | Big Top, Sydney NSW *AA – SOLD OUT

Wednesday 17 August | Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD 18+  – NEW SHOW

Thursday 18 August | Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD *AA

Friday 19 August | Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD 18+ – SOLD OUT

Tuesday 23 August | The Forum, Melbourne VIC *AA – NEW SHOW

Wednesday 24 August | The Forum, Melbourne VIC *AA – SOLD OUT

Friday 25 August | The Forum, Melbourne VIC 18+- NEW SHOW

Friday 26 August | The Forum, Melbourne VIC 18+ – SOLD OUT

Saturday 27 August | The Forum, Melbourne VIC 18+ – SOLD OUT

+ With special guests I Know Leopard and Teenage Dads

 

Interviewed by Lochie Schuster.

Photos supplied.