The debut self-titled EP from Sydney quartet Body Type has been a long time coming. After releasing a steady stream of singles and garnering a reputation as an unmissable live act in the two years since their formation, drummer Cecil Coleman describes a feeling of “sweet release” at having a completed body of work now out in the world.
The Body Type EP is a lush, swoony collection of songs that situate intricate guitars and dreamy vocals with driving rhythms and a kind of rawness; a scuzziness that carries the songs over. Tracks like ‘Ludlow’ and ‘Dry Grass’ could, in other hands, lean too much into a hazy saturation of reverb – but instead, they’re galvanized, energetic songs that combine a kind of visceral effervescence with a strong ear for melody.
Anyone who has seen the band live knows the kind of electricity that happens when they play together, and encapsulating that sound into the recording process was a big part of it for Coleman and the band. “We’re our truest selves when we’re onstage together,” Coleman says.
For the band – Coleman, Sophie McComish, Annabel Blackman and Georgia Wilkinson-Derums – Body Type has been an experience in mutually growing together, making a supportive environment for each other to explore and express their ideas. Though they had all played other instruments before, Body Type was about getting out of their comfort zone.
“It was born out of all of us wanting to find a creative and safe space without judgment where we could play music. We’re all at the same level of our instruments and wanted to see what that would feel like, “explains Coleman.
“Over the past two years we’ve learned so much and been influenced so heavily by each other. It’s a really beautiful thing about us: in a sense we’re all kind of learning together and that’s what’s made the connection so easy between us. We’re all supporting each other.”
Watch the clip for ‘Ludlow’ by Body Type below
Body Type began with the friendship of Coleman and McComish, who had attended uni together back in their hometown of Perth. After reconnecting in Melbourne, they both found each other both living in Sydney in 2016. “I told Sophie I was learning drums and she said she’d been teaching herself guitar. I had never had a jam before, or played drums in front of someone else.”
Wilkinson-Derums was a fellow ex-Perth resident living in Sydney, and Blackman came into the fold through a mutual friend’s sharehouse. “Soph saw a guitar in her room one day and asked her if she played guitar. We were like, come to this warehouse in Marrickville and play some stuff with us!”
After playing together for six months – “a gradual build”, according to Coleman – the band began recording their first songs, an early version of ‘Ludlow’ being released as a single in November 2016.
Recording for the Body Type EP was done over two stints. ‘Silver’ and ‘Arrow’ were both recorded in Marrickville last year with acclaimed engineer and friend of the band Antonia Gauci, whose credits include tracks by heavyweights like Lil Yachty and Kesha along with Australian acts DMA’s, Alison Wonderland and Kučka. The rest of the EP was recorded with producer Kon Kersting, most of it at the Brisbane-based Airlock Studios while the band were on tour with Alex Cameron back in April.
“[Kon] works out of an incredible studio in one of the guys from Powderfinger’s house on this farm, in the middle of a forest,” explains Coleman.
“While we were touring we did this intense two-day session after the Alex Cameron Brisbane show. We drove to this place first thing in the morning, smashed out three songs, flew back to Sydney, and played the Sydney show that night. We were all pretty wrecked,” Coleman laughs.
Watch the clip for ‘Palms’ by Body Type below
Hearing the songs on the Body Type EP in contrast to their earlier versions, it becomes apparent that the band have figured out a way to operate together in sync over the past two years. Everything clicks in a way that suggests a communal songwriting process.
“That was really special. At the moment, the way it works is that someone will bring an idea to the band and we’ll workshop it together. A lot of the songs on the EP, parts have grown or changed over time and that’s what we’re about. Sharing the song and experience with each other. We work together really well, which has been a really nice thing to have.”
One gets the impression, too, that the women in Body Type have clicked on a level that goes beyond simply musicianship; that they’re deeply in tune with one another in a personal sense as well. “While I’ve been on the phone to you I’ve received about five messages from Sophie,” Coleman says. “Without a doubt, those three women are my dearest friends.”
Coleman explains that – cliché as it may be – it’s a kind of familial bond that exists between the four.
“They’re the people I tell everything to. I share my work life, my personal life, and up until recently my home life, because we all lived together for a period. We may get angry with each other, but it’s like arguing with family.
“I get to travel around the country with my best friends, and go through it all together. It’s the best.”
Body Type’s debut, self-titled EP is out now.
