Melbourne/Naarm band Bones and Jones have had an impressive couple of years indeed.
After dropping their third album, Love You, last year, they haven’t slowed down one bit in 2024, releasing the experimental EP, In Blue, in February, the record containing four fresh tracks leaning into indie and hypnotic synth-textures, showcasing their diverse sound and expanding repertoire.
Their solid foundation led to their debut US tour, including a big performance at SXSW and a live TV appearance for an Austin-based news channel last month.
Now back in Australia, they’ve teamed up with The Grogans on their nationwide album release tour, with only five shows left to catch both band’s tight live show in action (see full tour dates here).
Below, read Bones and Jones’s own breakdown of their excellent latest full-length album, Love You.
Bones and Jones’ In Blue EP and Love You is out now.
Love You Track-by-Track:
Love You came about at the tail end of 2022, we set up at the farm over a few scattered sessions and tracked most of the record, producing and engineering it ourselves. We tracked everything live and over the following months finished it off in makeshift setups in front rooms and bedrooms across everyone’s houses in Melbourne/Naarm.
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“Oh Day”
This song was written really last minute, we really wanted something to slow it down and I kept saying I had a song idea when I really didn’t. I just let the lyrics stream out without really thinking about much, I paired it with some chords and pedal steel and everyone was happy with it! I don’t think it’s about much but maybe after a little time it’ll find some meaning.
“Castlemaine”
Castlemaine is one of the first character songs I’ve really written. There was this really big road at primary school and whenever it rained all the kids would race leaves down the gutter, I don’t know how I dug up that memory but I liked the idea of writing a song around it. There’s no super direct link to Castlemaine apart from that we all love going there. I always thought it was hard to work in Australian township names into songs like Americans can (“Jackson” by Johnny Cash, “Memphis, Tennessee” by Chuck Berry etc.), [but] Castlemaine seemed like it would sound the best so it stuck.
“Be The Best Man at My Wedding (but i’m not gonna get wedded at all)”
“Be the Best Man…” came from a demo of Tom and Finn’s. It hit its strides pretty quickly in our live set, the lyrics were penned really quickly to make a gig that we wanted to have it for. There’s a few mouthfuls with not much room for breathing in the verses, we have gotten better at timing our breaths to make the phrases.
“Make You Smile”
Finn: “Make You Smile” was mainly written about a disability support client I had a few years ago that was going through a really difficult time with drug addiction and mental health issues. I saw a side of life I hadn’t really been exposed to before and it left a big impact on me. It made me much more aware of how fortunate I am to be in my position with such loving family and friends that are there to support me through life. There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have that love and support.
“All I Wanted”
All I Wanted is about living in share houses, working a job you don’t like for not much money and trying to get buy while the price for everything skyrockets. I found it really funny during COVID lockdowns, everyone got into 4WDs and camping – you couldn’t really do either but it was the idea of escaping and being capable out of your comfort zone that I think people were really attracted to.
“My Friend”
“My Friend” is about people moving onwards and feeling like you’re left behind, the urge to grow yourself without it being forced. “My Friend” was the first of all the recordings for this album, I’d just gotten myself a pedal steel and some new recording gear so we were super stoked with how it was sounding. It really set the tone for how the record was going to sound.
“Jump Rope”
This song is pretty silly. We recorded it a couple of times in the past but never quite got the energy we wanted.
“Ain’t It Hard”
“Ain’t It Hard” is another whiny song about how fucked up the world is. It’s a privileged perspective but it feels better out than in.
“I’ve Got a Voice”
“I’ve Got a Voice” initially was meant to be for our project with Folk Bitch Trio, it was the first song that we jammed together but then it got replaced by a song we had written with that project in mind. It’s always been a really fun one to play live, we had heaps of fun stacking up George’s lap steel solo as an ode to [the] George Harrison slide tone.
