GRAMMY-nominated, Australian electronic icons Cut Copy released their seventh studio album, Moments, in September via Cutters Records / The Orchard.
The band are now on a North American tour that lands at 9:30 Club on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Exuding emotion from start to finish, Moments is a homecoming for the ages, a series of sonic vignettes and moments in time, shaped by a free-wheeling, anything-goes approach to their music-making. Resultantly, the record expertly traverses electronic to synthpop, crossing trip-hop and rock sensibilities between, all threaded together by a simple, collective desire to try and make sense of life’s ups and downs. Following a period of big life changes, personally and for those around them, the band were compelled to craft a space for escape within the record; on the dancefloor, in a festival crowd, or within the headphones at home — wherever that escape may be required.
Frontman Dan Whitford elaborated on the foundations of the record: “Since our last album release, five years have passed. In that time I had a child, people around me fell in and out of relationships, the world went through a global pandemic, and there has been a myriad of social and political upheaval. So I guess there’s been a fair bit on my mind, and for me making this album has been a way of processing it all. Stylistically, everyone in the band loved the sonic palette of the last album. It felt clean, modern, and emotive but still like Cut Copy. We tried to keep that modern approach, but turn it into something more energetic, psychedelic and euphoric; seeing how that approach could evolve and work on a dance floor, not just an ambient context… Dance music is about connecting with one another after all. Euphoria bubbles away under the surface in most of the songs and I think that’s the Cut Copy DNA shining through.”
The news arrives alongside new single “When This Is Over.” The track contrasts between electronic and “real life” sounds, framed by organic grooves orchestrated by electric drums, bouncing synths and more expansive vectors. As glimmers of electric guitar weave in, a thumping choral bridge soon expels into an out-of-body instrumental breakdown — a surefire live highlight for future sets. Driving the bridge is a children’s choir from Candlebark School in Romsey VIC, conducted by Georgia Brook and recorded by James Cecil, a member of Architecture in Helsinki.
Stream “When This Is Over” by Cut Copy on YouTube:
Dan continued, “‘When This Is Over’ is one of those songs that instantly felt special as soon as it came into being. We had talked for years about the idea of making a song featuring a children’s choir, and after writing the first half of the song in my studio on synths and a drum machine, I drove from Melbourne into the country to a primary school where a friend was a music teacher and spent a day recording a choir idea that became the basis of the second half of the song. Suddenly with the addition of the children’s voices, the song had gone from a sketch into something magical. The song is about a relationship that has started to unravel. But also a bit more globally about trying to find empathy when parties are facing in seemingly opposite directions. Over the course of the song, the mood progresses from conflict to a sort of truce-like resolution. As humans sometimes it’s hard to find common ground when hurt runs deep, but as the song says, ‘we’re more the same than you’ll ever know’.”
Born from a bedroom recording project by Whitford, and expanding to a full-fledged band with guitarist Tim Hoey, drummer Mitchell Scott, and bass player Ben Browning, Cut Copy’s discography has endured the test of time, spanning six unique and explorative studio albums, countless remixes and more. 2008’s album In Ghost Colours, featuring “Lights & Music” and “Hearts on Fire,” received nominations for the ARIA Awards’ Best Dance/Electronic Album and Album of the Year at the J Awards. 2011’s ARIA chart-topper Zonoscope was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album of the Year at the GRAMMY Awards, awarded Best Dance Release at the ARIA Awards, and was named one of the best albums of 2008 and of the 2000s by Pitchfork. The band’s most recent album, 2020’s Freeze, Melt, showcased an expansion yet refinement in their sound, while maintaining a legacy unmatched in Australian music since their inception.
Cut Copy
W/ Ora The Molecule
9:30 Club
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Doors @ 7pm
$51.35
All ages
