Perth four-piece Sixth Avenue “paint a vaster picture” of maturation on stripped back new single 23.
Sixth Avenue have released the new single 23, serving as the latest track lifted from their forthcoming EP. The song expands upon the Perth band’s distinct blend of part-indie, part-emo rock, with frontman Joel Bellesini singing in candid vocals of missed opportunities and striving for peace of mind. The cutting lyricism is accompanied by stripped back sonics, which come courtesy of fellow bandmates Kenji, Cody and Daniel.
Though opting for casual restraint for much of the song’s runtime — complete with steady guitar strums and an effortless drumline — 23 still retains the anthemic sound which informs much of Sixth Avenue’s trademark sound. Towards the end of the track, Sixth Avenue ups the tempo and volume with a post-chorus explosion of high-octane vocals and instrumentation.
Bellesini adopts grungy tones reminiscent of an early-aughties punk rock cut, coalesced around clamorous guitars, with the pared back outro affording space for the frontman to reflect on love and loss. “I told myself I’d be ok by the time I graduate,” Bellinsini sings with disarming honesty in the track’s opening lines, “but now that’s come and gone.”
Speaking of the band’s more forthright and simplistic approach to lyricism and production, Bellesini said 23 “[drops] the curtain and shows the explicit detail where I maybe would have been more cryptic and distant in the past.” The singer, who describes 23 as the most frank track he’s ever written, added that the band “discovered the usefulness of restraint in [the song].”
“[We] opted for more space and a less-is-more attitude… and tuned down the always-tempting chops and breaks in the hopes of not so much telling a story but painting a vaster picture,” he said in a press statement. 23 serves as the fourth preview of Sixth Avenue’s upcoming sophomore EP, having previously released the singles Lost, Bleach and Sometimes I Get High and Think About You.
The band will celebrate 23 with a launch party at Jack Rabbit Slims in Northbridge, Perth this Friday (March 17). Elsewhere, Sixth Avenue performed a set at last year’s Sidefest, where they joined a lineup that also included Sly Withers, Teenage Joans and Ruby Fields, among others.
Listen to Sixth Avenue’s new single 23 below, and keep an eye out for the quintet’s forthcoming EP due out soon.
