We asked Jeremy Neale to give us a track by track deep-dive into his upcoming album We Were Trying To Make It Out out Feb 28 2020, and he gave us all the details we needed in time for the brand new project. 

Jeremy Neale: Well, here I am. A person with an easy enough to remember name with the hardest to remember album title of 2020. Universal balance. Truly. A track-by-track? Sure! I’ve thought about these songs a lot. I even lived them, so you don’t have to! Unless of course, you’re currently living a similar experience — in which case, I understand and invite you to take refuge in this — the most empathetic release of the year.

Check out Jeremy Neale giving his rundown of his brand new album below:

1. Everything I Do Is Replaced by Two

I get it. You get it. Modern life is tough. We should have it all. We could have it all. But massive wealth inequality means if you’re in the working class your life is probably on some form of survive. You’ve still got your dreams, though — so you chase them. But you’re juggling too much. The list is piling up and you’re always behind. Cool opening sentiments, Jeremy. What the world needed was some lols, and what you have given them instead is additional sorrow. But at least the sorrow is at a reasonable tempo and it’s one you can pump your fist along to. That’s the power of chorus gang vocals.

Listen to the track below.

2. Tried and True (Raise the Roof)

This track is as self-referential as it gets. Writing about the end of my career in the most upbeat of ways. “Tried and True” refers to my go-to chord progression if I need a chorus that totally bangs (as much as power pop ‘bangs’ today). Time keeps on moving on and when you live with a lot of hope, you’ll never notice it, but at some point, if the world has moved on, should you? A couple of home truths lyrically:

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“I don’t like confrontation or yelling fights, I’d rather composure”. I’m pro-proactive resolution but an anti-anger type person.
“My life, it’s stuck in a loop where I kick a vice, only to fall back worse every time”. I know they’re acceptable social vices but I know my life would be better without caffeine — which gives me great creative energy but puts me in an artificial state of stress — or booze — which is terribly fun at the time but ultimately makes me a bit more gloomy. I can’t seem to kick either of them for very long. Stylistically, my pal Josh Coxon (also responsible for most of the guitar on this record) had sent me a recommendation to listen to Marshall Crenshaw as he’d said there were similarities in our music.
Unsurprisingly, I was very into the ’80s tones on early ’60s style melodies and proceeded to write this immediately after. George Browning came to the rescue by giving it the two-prong guitar riff and general rhythm that changed the overall feel quite dramatically.
3. The Strength to Carry

This is the night when I take control of my life. You know when things get really bad? Like maybe you’re super snowed under or you’re at a crisis point and you’re like “This is the last time I will ever let my life get like this”. It’s a promise I make to myself a lot. Kick the vices, get in a good exercise routine, keep the stress to a minimum, learn to say no in favour of self-care. But it tends to unravel pretty quickly until I once again find myself back at crisis point. But this time, THIS is it! The unrelenting guitar hook — is it symbolic? Sure. Keep pushing on — it’s stoicism, baby! The addition of Jaimee Frye (Pool Shop, Major Leagues) on vocals? Well, I love her voice and I wanted the pre-chorus and chorus, in particular, to highlight how we struggle alone but also in unison. “You’re always kind when I need time but I’m never kind to myself. You’re looking for the strength to carry, I’ve been looking for the same, all of my life”. Outro sax solo? Sure thing!

4. Hold Me Up

I can’t really connect with it but I feel like there must have been a time in my life when I felt like I was safe. Maybe when I was very young, or before I had to make any hugely consequential life decisions. For the longest time, though, I haven’t felt like it’s okay to stop. Even though I have an amazing support structure in family and friends, and consider myself very fortunate for this — I can’t ever seem to shake the feeling that it’s all on me. And I don’t know what I’d need to feel safe and secure or to take time off without guilt. Well, money, I guess. Has capitalism infiltrated my very core? Yes. Most heinously. It’s brutal. I’m sure we all want that break and that support.

The real MVP for this was one engineer, mixer and co-producer Aidan Hogg. On the advice of mastering wizard William Bowden, he went deep and re-mixed this track so the chorus really explodes. Probably doesn’t translate sonically but I was thinking about The Ramones a lot when I was writing this. Guess I’m always thinking about The Ramones.

5. Our Days Are Numbered

I mean, objectively, they are. And generally, it’s best not to think about it but it’s a strong motivator… when it doesn’t leave you frozen with existential dread. I know there’s a pretty big obsession with the passage of time on this album but in a lot of ways, what could be more important? Time is the only real currency. “I clean myself up, I think I look nice but I’ve been ravaged by all the hard times” — you go about your business running from one thing to the next, and sometimes you catch a glimpse of yourself and you see how the world has physically taken a toll. There’s not a lot to do about it, though. Go trade your time for a chance of some kind of payoff in the future — with increased desperation in each attempt. I think we captured this desperation and intensity in the chorus. Percussion expert George Browning delivered the goods.

6. We Were Trying to Make It Out

Another track featuring the vocal talents of Jaimee Fryer. Stylistically it’s pretty heavily influenced by Prefab Sprout. This song is about being kind to yourself when it all falls apart. You ever see a picture of yourself when you were a kid and just cry? That was my last experience with looking through a photo album, so I stopped. You don’t notice when you’ve lost your spark. The process is pretty gradual. Patterns and habits keep you moving but the magic slowly faded. Why were you doing any of this? Well. I don’t know if other people are trying to make it out. I don’t know what anybody else’s motivation is. Me? I was raised on welfare in the outer suburbs. What do I want? Financial stability, a valued role in society, someone to catch me if I fall.

“So mind what you do if it’s hurting you, and be kind when all that you dreamed has deserted you”. How many of the things that you do every day are ultimately hurting you but you’re not sure how else to go about your life? It’d be nice to treat yourself with the same compassion you have for the child version of yourself. This sounds pretty new-agey but it’s true. I thought the sentiment was important enough to be the album title… even though by doing so it has meant that (as acknowledged) it’s the hardest to remember album title of the year. I know it’s no banger but I think this song is so beautiful. In the instrumental break, it really highlights the arrangement skills of Josh Coxon — the bass, guitar and piano interplay is just a very nice time.

7. Still Want You Around Me

There are some songs that are warm hugs. I wanted this track to have that vibe. And I think maybe we got there by the last chorus. I really like how Toploader’s cover of ‘Dancing In The Moonlight’ makes me feel and that’s an energy I’d like there to be more of in the world of music. Also probably the most adult contemporary I’ve ever gotten music to sound. Here we are — the beginning of the adult contemporary years. It’s cowboy hats and four-part harmonies from here on in. Sentimentally, it’s also very adult contemporary. I’m doin’ my best out here and even when I’m struggling or distracted, it’s important that my wife, the one who makes so much of my life possible, knows how much she has made my life really sing, and that I still want her around me.

Listen to the track below.

8. Time

“You can sleep away most days and you won’t see what you’re losing. It’s so hard to reconcile that it’s mostly of my choosing.” In the hall of the harrowing — what’ll really get you is that every moment is a choice and it’s one that you made. (I don’t mean the things that happen TO you but rather how you respond). Philosophical debates about the illusion of free-will aside, there have been many times in my life when I can’t deal and I opt to just avoid it all by the power of sleep or a similar strategy to numb myself to the world outside and my role/responsibilities in it. Ultimately, though, I chose every moment of avoidance. I wasted a lot of precious time. Why? Well, a lot of the time I was just sad. I guess I didn’t choose that.

As the second verse attests “We’ve only got the cards we’re dealt, and not all hearts can be mended”. Overall, I just can’t deal with how much of my life has already gone. It’s alarming and sometimes upon waking from sleep the existentialism hits me for six. The chorus says it all — no poetry required: “When you see where you’re at in the scheme of your life, well, it’s crushing and so sad cos time’s moving too fast and I can’t get any of it back.” Stylistically, I think it has a real country R.E.M kinda vibe. Another George Browning classic in that raging guitar riff that really contextualises it all.

To celebrate the forthcoming release of new Jeremy Neale album We Were Trying To Make It Out, on February 28, Jeremy Neale will play four in-stores across Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Catch Jeremy Neale perform at Jet Black Cat, Red Eye Records, Summertown Studios and Rocksteady Records. Full dates available below.

JEREMY NEALE IN-STORE DATES

Friday 28th February – Brisbane, QLD
Jet Black Cat Music, 6.30 PM
72A Vulture Street
West End, QLD 4101
Event Page

Thursday 5th March – Sydney, NSW
Red Eye Records, 5.00 PM
143 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Event Page

Thursday 19th March – Adelaide, SA
Summertown Studios, 7.00 PM
13 Paringa Ave,
Somerton Park SA 5044
Event Page

Friday 20th March – Melbourne, VIC
Rocksteady Records, 6.00 PM
Level 1, Mitchell House
358 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Event Page

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