Those of you who’ve seen one of Liars festival appearances this summer will know that they’re moving forward quickly, yet again, eschewing old material (even that which appeared on 2012 LP WIXIW) in favour of new tracks that ramp up the electronics and promise a return to the outlandish insanity that characterises much of Liars’ earlier albums.
Speaking to Red Bull Music Channel after Liars’ set at the Sonar Festival, Angus Andrew said that the new songs are all about Liars being "less cerebral, it’s more going for it and having fun with it… It’s got to do with having less concern, and more reaction and impulse – that’s where that stuff comes from. With WIXIW we spent a lot of time thinking about it, and it’s nice to just riff, and freak out."
Andrew says that the directness of the new tracks comes from the band exulting in their inexperience with technology. "It’s about using the equipment wrong – it’s always been like that, we’re not pro musicians," he says.
"It’s about using the tools and trying to find an idea and a way to express it. When we started on WIXIW it was like reading manuals, trying to figure out how to press the right key to make a sound. Now it’s more natural. WIXIW was a scary record to make. It was really cerebral and paranoid because of learning how to make it all within the computer, it was hard for me to get my head around it.”
Fans of Angus as 300ft tall channeller of St Vitus Dance and Gibby Haines will also appreciate the return of his more lunatic side, lyrically and onstage. How does that side come out in the music? “I’ll blurt out words as we go along, and sometimes they’re completely non-sensical, they need to be reined in. That’s what’s great about Aaron, I’ll say ‘This is what I’m working with’, and it’ll be ‘I’m a whale, you’re a freak, we need some sunlight’ and he’s, ‘Yeah, but maybe instead of ‘I’m a whale’ it can be ‘I’m aware’. I get blown away when he says that – ‘Oh my God, what was I thinking?! A whale?’” Read the full interview at RBMA here.
