Stream San Cisco's Gracetown in full, and read their Track by Track guide

20 March 2015, 14:00 | Written by Laurence Day

(News)

(San Cisco)

Australian indie-pop group San Cisco are streaming their long-awaited second LP Gracetown on Best Fit ahead of its release next month.

As the band have grown, as has their sound, and on this record, they demonstrate just how far they've come. It tackles a "deeper exploration of the hormonal tangle that is postmodern sexual politics", but rather than using the rougher indie tones of before, they opt for sleek production and funky pop vibes.

Speaking about the album generally, the band's Jordi Davieson says: "Lyrics must have some truth about them otherwise they’re just a bunch of words... I can’t just fabricate a scenario. If I make stuff up I can’t remember it, and the song falls apart. I ‘objectify’ the words so they are not too literal but, rather, universal. ‘We don’t include a lyric sheet in the CD for that reason. We don’t want to dictate a response. We want the listener to encounter a song and make it their own, even if they mishear it."

Read the band's Track by Track guide below, and then stream the album after.

"RUN"

The panting and gasping in the intro evokes the ‘ambiguity’ of a dysfunctional relationship. The guy is both running towards and away from it... the song is about confusion and manipulation.

"Too Much Time Together"

This is about people holding onto each other so tightly they self-combust.

"Magic"

All the band contributed to the lyrics. It’s another paean to troubled amours, one that begins with a ‘chicky-haha-ticketty boo’ whisper, like a dirty Martian lisping filth in your ear.

"Snow"

This is about touring... our manager said he NEVER wanted us to write a song about missing home — so that’s exactly what we did!

"Wash It All Away"

This is a song about mongrel relationships...

"Bitter Winter"

This track deals with a successful relationship...

"Jealousy"

This song feels like rebirth; it’s like nothing the band has done before. I freestyled over a loop, channeling a person I wasn’t. I needed not to plan this and just let it happen, trusting raw instinct.

"Super Slow"

It’s about two people singing about the same thing but failing to agree.

"Mistakes"

This sweet song was written on the piano, the words coming as if from God and the melody filling the space around it like the universe.

"About You"

It started life on a laptop. This song of slender beginnings morphs into a strutting synth-march... within these spaces Josh’s mournful guitar weeps inconsolably.

"Skool"

This song was born in a toilet and initially recorded on a phone. We were in the studio and everyone had cabin fever. I took myself off to the toilet. This was what came out - a musical dump, if you will.

"Just For A Minute"

This began as a jam. Josh, the ‘tech guy’ in the band, was experimenting with an old drum machine and came up with an asymmetric ‘skewiff beat’. The song coalesced around it. It has a blissed-out funk rhythm and '70s disco feel,

Gracetown will be released on 6 April. The band will play The Dome in Tufnell Park, London, on 9 April to celebrate, and you can grab tickets for that here.

Stream the record in full below.