Making their debut in 2013, Dear Seattle quickly gained traction within the Aussie indie rock scene, opening for and playing beside a multitude of massive acts. Their 2017 single “The Meadows” racked up almost 6-million streams on Spotify, and 2019 saw them release their highly-anticipated debut album Don’t Let Go. Fast-forward to now, and they’re on the brink of releasing their third studio album, TOY, out today.
From the moment I hit play, it was clear to me that TOY is their best work to date- it’s bigger and better than anything they’ve previously done, and it really resonated with me from the get-go. It was no surprise, therefore, that I jumped at the opportunity to chat with lead vocalist Brae Fisher on the upcoming release, delving deep into the album and discussing how TOY came to be.
“It’s been awesome, just to put it as generally as possible.” Fisher says, of the reaction to the live debut of a few newer tracks. “you can never really tell until you’re actually in a room and playing the songs live, how it connects with people…coming home and playing them- even “Counting Hours”, which we just released, there was people who knew every word to the song and it had been out for about 48 hours…it was crazy. it makes it feel like the album is connecting in the way that we had hoped and all the things that we put into it are actually being heard by everyone else in that way that we intended, you know.”
Dear Seattle have grown massively as artists over the course of their existence, but the release of TOY marks the biggest creative development for the group, in my opinion. The lyrics, instrumentation and production are a huge improvement from their previous work, although there’s no doubt that their older albums will always hold a special place among listeners. But, while it all feels very fresh, Fisher revealed that the key was returning to their old ways, saying, “We recently decided that we just want to work with our friends and just keep everything as close and as personal as possible across our team… we have new management, we have a new producer – well, actually, not a new producer. We went back to Fletcher Matthews, who is one of our oldest friends, he did our very first self-titled EP. It all just felt so good, like coming back home.”
The experience of recording TOY in an intimate studio setting, while familiar to the group, was a contrast to their previous recording experience for their album Someday. Working with Scott Horscroft at the immaculate Grove Studios, the whole experience was very lavish. While they do look back fondly on their time recording with Horscroft, Fisher opened up about the challenges that came with recording in a vastly different environment, saying, “It was an amazing experience, and that studio there is unbelievable and the location is crazy as hell. But I think for us, too many distractions isn’t a good thing. Having all this beautiful nature outside, a pool, and, you know- we could put the cricket on in the studio and there was TV screens showing it while we were recording it and stuff. I feel like this time, going into a smaller studio just with Fletch and really keeping it as stripped back as possible and just focusing on music, our vision got honed a bit better.”
Fisher delved deeper into the recording process, sharing, “We hit a bit of a crossroads when we were leading into it, thinking, ‘well, this is a third record, do we want to venture into uncharted territories and try something different, or do we just want to do the thing that we’ve always done in the best way we can possibly do it and really make sure that every song across the whole record is better than every single that we’ve put out in the past?’ And that’s what we ended up deciding to do. In the past, we’ve always looked at albums as this creative process of, like, you go in and you feel it out and see what happens. Whereas- and maybe it’s just because we’re getting older or something- but it felt more professional this time. It felt more considered. We went in with a plan and we just knew how we wanted to execute it.”
In this day and age, it’s easy to measure the success of an album by how many streams it receives or how many views it gets. But for Dear Seattle, their desire for the record is for listeners to have a deep emotional connection and relation to the tracks. “To me, this is just a journal, really. The way I’ve always written lyrics has just been journalistic and it’s my own coping mechanism, in a way… If anyone connects with it, that’s a bonus. Doing these shows recently and chatting to people and hearing about how certain songs have impacted their lives or help them through things that they’ve been struggling with, to me, that’s it. That’s why we do it in general.”
A track that jumped out to me initially, and further resonated with me on each subsequent listen, is “We Were So Close”, in particular the line who we are right now doesn’t change us then. “When I was in the studio writing it, [this line] was one of those ones that just kind of came out and I read it and I was like, ‘that so succinctly sums up such a strong feeling that I have.’” Fisher says of this track and line in particular. “A big theme across the record is nostalgia… almost like you’re grieving the loss of your younger life, your adolescent life. You know, friends that you used to have and experiences you used to have and having to grow up and move on to different stages of your life…That song is really about a lost friendship of someone who I used to be incredibly close with. We just generally grew apart naturally over time… it’s just reflecting on a time of us being together and how much I wish that I could just transport back to that moment every now and then, just spend like an hour in it and soak it all in. That lyric to me is the perfect summation of it.”
Picking singles for the album proved to be a difficult task, with Fisher sharing that the album contains something for everyone, and no few tracks clearly stood out above the rest. When it comes to the sharing TOY with the world, though, there’s two tracks in particular that he is confident will resonate closely with all listeners, saying, “Honestly, “We Were So Close”- not to double down on it after the conversation we just had, but I think that has a very universal sentiment that I think everyone will be able to attribute that to at least some part of their life. Also, “Cut My Hair” is one that is, I think, very different. It’s quite a bit darker but it’s focused around this battle of having self-esteem or being arrogant- this dichotomy of wanting to be confident and wanting to love yourself, but there seems to be a fine line of how much you can do that before people start to see you as arrogant.”
Exploring this theme further, Fisher explores his own internal struggle and advice on overcoming it, saying, “I’ve battled with that at times, like when you’re a performer, you have to go on stage and you have to give this elevate version of yourself and try and be a bit larger than life in certain ways but it doesn’t come naturally to me at all. If you’re trying to be something else, then it just doesn’t make sense. Just do what feels natural and comfortable, and rather than questioning yourself for doing it, just lean into it and be happy with who you are.”
And, to be honest, I think that sentiment sums up TOY pretty neatly. This album is unapologetically Dear Seattle in all their glory, and Fisher’s unwavering passion for this record is very apparent.
TOY from Dear Seattle is out now. You can grab a copy HERE, and read Sarah’s review HERE.
