Tim & Jean have experienced a rapid rise to success in recent years. After reaching the finals of Triple J’s Unearthed High, the duo graced the stages of huge festivals such as Splendour And The Grass and Parklife and released their debut album Like What in 2011, which reached #12 on the ARIA Album Charts.
Following this success, the Western Australian band are set to release their sophomore album early next year, but it’ll be without one half of the titular group, with this morning’s news that Jean Capotorto has announced his immediate departure from the group.
The news is not all sad for fans however – say goodbye to Tim & Jean, and say hello to The Lazy Calm, the newly expanded outfit spearheaded by Tim Ayre.
The newly-minted quartet (named after a song by The Cocteau Twins) features Ayre alongside Alvyn Tan on guitars, keyboards and production duties, Jade Masters on drums, and Lewis Moody on additional keys.“It’s a step forward for us – we’ve been developing new sounds and pushing the guitar dynamic,”
The new band had already written and recorded most of what was to be the follow-up album when Jean Capotorto announced his departure, and it will be released under the new name in early 2013.
“It’s a step forward for us – we’ve been developing new sounds and pushing the guitar dynamic,” chief vocalist Tim Ayre states regarding the new album. “We wanted to make it more organic – but overall we do what feels natural to us and create songs that make us move and hopefully these songs will have a similar impact on our audience.”
“Alvyn [Tan] and I had been collaborating on songs and Alvyn was pulling all the production together in the studio,” says Tim Ayre of the new reord. “I’ve been interested in vocal chopping, really pushing my vocals and using it as an instrument.”
Speaking of the band’s new summer ode, “Where Are You Going Now”, Ayre says it’s “all fizzy beats, addictive heights and classic Tim & Jean keys… It’s a pop song, but I wanted the drums to be a bit distorted, industrial almost– hopefully fans will recognise it’s us instantly.”
The Lazy Calm are also ready to begin playing live shows again, with Ayre stating that “it’s without doubt the thing we live for and we’ve really missed it while we’ve been stuck in the studio.”
The Lazy Calm’s first show as a new band will be on New Year’s Day in support of Pnau at the Belvoir Ampitheatre in Perth.
Ayre also describes this new incarnation as a natural progression of sorts, saying that “It’s a band now, not just a couple of producers… The sounds we’re using are really quite different.”
“Over the past three years we’ve experienced a lot, spent time in America and the US as well as seeing so much of Australia,” Ayre continues. “We’ve met lots of great bands and musicians and it’s had a big impact on us.”
The Lazy Calm will release their single ‘Where Are You Going Now’ today, and you can have a listen to it on iTunes, or you’ll be able to see the accompanying video here when it launches in a few hours.
