This Friday will see Montaigne release Complex, her highly-anticipated second album, and first record since 2016’s Glorious Heights.
Understandably, fans of the Aussie musician are feeling pretty excited. After all, with her last album hitting number four on the ARIA charts, and recent singles like ‘For Your Love’, ‘Ready’, and ‘Love Might Be Found (Volcano)’ doing the rounds, it’s shaping up to be a pretty stunning release.
To make things more exciting though, Montaigne will also be hitting the road in November, touring in support of the new record, and bringing fans around the country these amazing new songs.
Even better, Montaigne has also partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket goes to support Bush Heritage Australia a national non-profit organisation conserving biodiversity in Australia
Having worked with some pretty amazing producers on the new album, including Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foals), Wynne Bennett (Twin Shadow, Janelle Monáe), and more, we already know that Complex is on the way to being one of the year’s biggest records. But what about the stuff we don’t know?
To celebrate the release of Complex on August 30th, Montaign has given us the down-low on the exciting stuff you didn’t know about her new record, giving fans an insight into what went on behind the scenes during the last few years.
Check out ‘Ready’ by Montaigne:
10 things you didn’t know about Montaigne’s new album, ‘Complex’
1. ‘Show Yourself’ used to be three minutes longer with different sections and more lyrics but it was cut down to its now short poem form.
2. ‘The Dying Song’ also had different melodies and lyrics in the verse but I was encouraged to “make the verses catchier” and make the lyric more direct, so I quickly re-wrote them in a 10-20 minute stint on Dave Sitek’s piano.
3. There is a lot of interesting percussion used on various tracks co-written and produced by Tony Buchen, including the Tabla, Repique, Darnuka, Pandeiro, Riq, and Taiko.
4. ‘Losing My Mind’’s production was finished by Tony Buchen but the song was written and foundations created with Thomas Rawle, who also produced and co-wrote ‘Pleasure’. I met Tom through my former bass player Gus Gardiner, and together they used to be in Papa vs Pretty. Both now have awesome solo pursuits.
5. I re-cut the verse lead vocal for ‘Complex’ three times over two years, never quite satisfied with the delivery. The first take was great but the audio quality wasn’t good enough and I could never replicate it in a way that satisfied me. A surprisingly difficult sing.
6. I had the name Complex for the album very early on and it stuck for two years.
7. Tony and I forgot to track live strings for ‘Is This All I Am Good For?’ but did so for every other song. Oops.
8. The percussion beds you hear on ‘I Am A Clown’ were actually recorded by Mauro Refosco for ‘Please You’, but we didn’t feel they fit on the song, so on a new day of writing we opened up the beds again and made a fresh song, which then became ‘I Am A Clown’.
9. I listened to these songs at least 200 times after they were mixed and mastered. I listen to my own music until they’re wrung out and I can’t think about them anymore. It’s because I love them! I can’t really help it. Definitely won’t be listening to them for leisure for a while though.
10. I started a podcast at the beginning of the writing process called Insane In The Montaigne to track my thoughts and progress on the album — it’s terribly shite but give some of the middle episodes a listen for some dark feelings and nonsense.
Check out by Montaigne’s ‘Love Might Be Found (Volcano)’:
Montaigne Complex National Album Tour
Thursday, November 7th
The Gov, Adelaide, SA
Friday, November 8th
Badlands, Perth, WA
Saturday, November 9th
Mojo’s, Fremantle, WA
Thursday, November 14th
Solbar, Maroochydore, QLD
Friday, November 15th
The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday, November 16th
The Northern, Byron Bay, NSW
Sunday, November 17th
The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday, November 21st
Tap House, Bendigo, VIC
Friday, November 22nd
Torquay Hotel, Torquay, VIC
Saturday, November 23rd
The Croxton, Melbourne, VIC
Thursday, November 28th
UC Hub, Canberra, ACT
Friday, November 29th
The Metro, Sydney, NSW
Saturday, November 30th
UOW Unibar, Wollongong, NSW
