Brisbane psych-pop outfit These Guy are all set to release their new album, These Guy House, this week. The mini-album, which officially releases tomorrow, was conceived, written, recorded and mixed all during the early months of Queensland’s lockdown. We all knew they were going to come eventually, the pandemic albums, but perhaps not quite so soon. All the same, we’re excited to bring you the exclusive premiere of this “cabin fever” song cycle.
For the uninitiated These Guy are, as of 2019, a four-piece band from Brisbane. Founded by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Joe Saxby, the band has grown from a bedroom recording solo project into a quartet. Alongside Saxby, the band includes Josh Coxon on guitar, Eddie L’Estrange on drums, and most recently Durwin Anderson on bass.
The new album, These Guy House, was born out of something of a creative renewal for Saxby, who decided to make the most of the coronavirus shutdown to indulge in some creative experimentation. Saxby settled in to a more relaxed, stream-of-consciousness songwriting process. These sessions saw him alternating between blasting out whatever came to mind and working through older, unfinished material languishing on hard drives. Those recordings and re-workings were then passed onto guitarist Josh Coxon to lay down his trademark guitar, before bringing everything together in the mixing process.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is something of an undercurrent of mild cabin fever that runs throughout the album’s runtime. How could there not be. But, the album is not without it’s moments of escapism. “Cemetery Nites” and “The Currawong” both add a twist of the supernatural and mystical to the everyday. Whilst, “Summer Blanket” and “Evening Hour”, both offer moments of stillness and quietness. With the band seeing both tracks as grappling with the nature of life pre-COVID. The album concludes with “Lifevibes”, a moment of positivity and optimism for what’s still to come in 2020 – a breakaway from housebound melancholia that has taken up much of the year.
I was initially reluctant to go near anything created during, or directly inspired by lockdown and coronavirus. Mostly because so much of it is terrible. That is not the case with These Guy House, however. Perhaps it’s because they’re grappling with it on a much more philosophical level, but the album does not feel bogged down by trying to make some sort of grand statement on it all. Instead, These Guy House, is genuinely a pleasure to listen to. It’s playful, experimental, but most importantly it’s eminently listenable. Don’t take my word for it though, give the album a spin below.
These Guy House releases Friday August 7th. Pre-order the album HERE. The band will be celebrating the album’s release with a headline show at Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge on Saturday August 8th. For more information and tickets head HERE.
You can keep up to date with These Guy via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
