The music that inspired Swim Deep’s new album

“We keep coming back to the heart of the song, to its emotion. It was about finding the song first and then going from there,” said their key player James Balmont. Far, discussing how the power of a good song led them to the right. For this release, they wanted to cut through the noise and keep things simple, leading to their most emotional and impactful album to date.

But in terms of inspiration, there are always a lot of different elements that go into making a sound. Even the simplest songs don’t come out of nowhere. Instead, the band drew inspiration from a wealth of musical history, whether in the form of albums they’ve loved forever or music lessons passed down from their producer and new member honorary member of the “brotherhood”, Bill Ryder Jones.

The music that inspired Swim Deep:

Painters of the Red House – Painters of the Red House II

The task of choosing a Red House Painters album to highlight was a difficult one for frontman Austin Williams, who would happily thank each one for their impact. But it’s the emotional life of their 1993 film that stands out.

“It’s very raw,” he said. Both lyrically and in style, the record seems entirely dedicated to the feelings involved. “It’s recorded in such a beautiful way that you can hear all the instruments. There’s no compression and nothing too hectic,” Williams continues, “He looks so emotional and so in pain too, but at the same time, really beautiful.” It’s easy to hear the impact of this more refined and emotional sound on their own album.

As a vital piece of the puzzle for their new album, the album was a common thread between Williams and their producer, Bill Ryder-Jones, as the frontman said: “That’s where Bill and I really weaved links. »

Dionne Warwick – “Anyone who had a heart”

Another influence attributed to their producer was the impact of one of the most legendary songwriters in history. As they discussed how Bill Ryder-Jones guided them toward a more traditional, no-fuss approach to songwriting, one of his icons became a major influence. “He’s really interested in writing more classic songs, so we talked a lot about Burt Bacharach,” Balmont said.

This Dionne Warwick piece written by Bacharach stands out. “It kind of sums up the power of classic 1960s songwriting,” he said. It’s so moving and I love the instrumentation with the strings.

From the nostalgic feel of the 1960s to the timelessness of some of the era’s best songs, the musical ethos of this decade has become a key pillar of influence. “It really sums up the aesthetic going forward,” Balmont explained.

My morning jacket – ‘Dondante’

All along There’s a big star outside, each song is anchored by a solid rock drum line and shifts many tracks into the anthemic arena. Even if the songs are undeniably more stripped down and tender than on their previous albums, drummer Thomas Fiquet nevertheless draws inspiration from some great rock moments.

“I always come back to that song thinking about the sensitivity of the music when it comes to dynamics,” Fiquet said. As “Dondante” reaches its climax, the drums get bigger and bigger, as if to carry the emotion. But they never overwhelm the rest of the track, allowing the whole song to function as one powerful unit, much like that of Swim Deep.

Gorky zygotic mynci – Barafundle

While Bill Ryder-Jones encouraged frontman Austin Williams to embrace the power of simple, stripped-down, emotional songwriting, he encouraged the rest of the band to step away from their own areas of influence and try something new.

For guitarist Robbie Wood, he wandered into the world of Welsh psychedelic folk with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. “When I first met Bill and we went to the Wirral, we bonded over the instrumentation on that record,” he said. As a group, the Welsh troupe’s journey seems to mirror that of Swim Deep. “It’s very different from their previous records, which were very well known,” Wood explained.

Much like their own new track, he added: “This one is more stripped down but with some really good melodies. » But above all, he thinks it’s an album that more people should hear; “It’s very beautiful, very underrated.”

Verve – A storm in paradise

Even though their sound evolved, certain influences always remained. Since their debut as a group, The Verve has been on the playlist.

“Verve’s first album before they became a Britpop band is an album that we’ve all loved for a long time,” Balmont said, as the whole band nodded in agreement. It was an album that even caused a small argument over who would get to talk about it, clearly everyone cared about it.

But the 1993 release seems to be a major point of influence, opening up the band’s bigger picture. “If Burt Bacharach’s kind of classic writing was at one end of the spectrum, then maybe this more druggy, shoegazey sound is at the other end,” Balmont explained, with the woozy sound being the other essential side of their room.

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