There has only been utterances of another Spiderbait album since the trio’s 2004 release, Tonight Alright, but now, an industry source has revealed a date has been set, and fans can expect to wrap webs of delight around the band’s seventh album in November 2013. Better still, the first taste of the new record will arrive sometime in August in the form of a lead single.
Its the first solid lead on progress of Spiderbait’s new album since the band were posting photos from the studio on their Facebook back in March, recording in Byron Bay.
News of Spiderbait’s first album in nearly a decade first came by the nothing-short-of-memorable Mark Maher, far better known as Kram (simply his first name spelt backwards), quoted on Triple J in late 2011 as saying they were “about halfway through,” the writing process.
At the time, they were just writing demos, and were “back in our Motorhead and Metallica metal phase,” no doubt an insight to the tone of the forthcoming album.
In an interview late last year with Tone Deaf, Kram revealed that the rock trio – including bass player Janet English and guitarist Damian Whitty – were working with “a guy called Franc Tétaz who produced Gotye, Bertie Blackman, and Architecture In Helsinki. He’s been really good to work with and we’re just about to start recording.” “There’s no shortage of material, and [producer Franc Tétaz] been great in helping to produce it a bit more and get it a little more developed.” – Kram, Spiderbait
Furthermore, in spite of the near decade between albums, “there’s no shortage of material, and Franc’s been great in helping to produce it a bit more and get it a little more developed,” Kram concluded.
The drummer also revealed that the dynamic between the trio has never been stronger, saying that after almost a quarter of a century together: “you never really forget how to do that; the dynamic between all three of us has always been really strong. You do start to get a little impatient but I think generally it’s been a really productive period for us,” he said amidst elation about the album’s eventual release.
In late 2011, Kram also featured in the Straight To You, the Triple J Nick Cave tribute concert, with a Tone Deaf reviewer calling the rendition of ‘Red Right Hand’ putting “the anxious crowd at ease with a close-to-original rendition of the gothic classic.” The review continues to flatter the “flawlessly sang vocals,” of the Spiderbait stalwart, who also covered ‘Henry Lee’, “stepping out from his usual post behind the kit and playing with guitar in hand.”
Prior to this solo appearance, Spiderbait released a Greatest Hits album in 2005, spurred by post-show discussions with enthused fans who knew nothing of Spiderbait prior to their 2004 cover of the Leadbelly sung, African-American work tune, “Black Betty.” In their biography, Kram recalls talking “to these excited kids who didn’t know our previous albums…It was like Tonight Alright was our debut album in some ways,” he says.
But irrespective of whether fans mounted the Spiderbait bandwagon early or late in their career, after almost a decade in waiting, enthusiasts young and old alike will presumably feel some relief at an all-but-confirmed release date.
