Melbourne band Walt released their debut album i love you the internet on 12 March 2021. Their first full-length release combines influences from a diverse range of artists including The Beatles, Throwing Muses, Glorious Din, and Elliott Smith.
The eight-track album follows the release of two lead singles in late 2020: album opener lightfoot, and the follow-up anon. #11, described by reviewers as an “enthralling psychedelic excursion”. The near-11 minute dream-pop ballad offered a glimpse of what to expect from the 42-minute debut LP.
Walt combines ’60s pop songwriting with a post-punk aesthetic, drawing on psychedelic, noise, and avant-garde canons to treat song form.
“i love you on the internet was written quite quickly,” says Walt. “We sort set up a playground consisting of only a 1980s Casio synth and a drum machine, and the songs grew from there. I think the limitations really helped us focus on the songwriting and lyrical approach as the genesis of each song, and once we had those ideas it was a very quick and intuitive process.”
Written and recorded almost entirely in Walt’s home studio, i love you on the internet sees the band eschew instrumental complexity for strong songwriting. The focus is on creating an all-encompassing sonic space that develops over the course of the album. Although each track holds up well, this is not a compilation of 8 tracks, rather a comprehensive and cohesive whole.
The album was mixed by Aden Senycia (Flower Drums, Munik, Nicholas Allbrook et al.) and mastered by William Bowden (Gotye, The Living End, and our Kylie) with drums tracked by Jessica Bennett at Love Shack studios in Footscray.
Check out the band’s promo video below:
