‘New Album’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest release. Up next is Katie from April Fish, who have just released new album An Alien Invaded the Circus.
When/where was the new album recorded?
I spent some time recording at New Zealand Pacific Studios (a gorgeous artists’ residency in Mount Bruce, where I wrote two of the songs that ended up on the album), and the rest was at my home studio in Wellington.
Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
I did the engineering. It was mixed by Vince Welch, who is in Boston band Bent Knee. They’re one of my all time faves and he did an amazing job, I feel so lucky to have him work on this album. We communicated online, sending tracks back and forth until we were all happy with the result.
How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
As with the previous album, this is a collection of songs I had written over the years, that felt like they belonged together. The title comes from a comment my niece made about a moment in our first album, Blurred, that she described as sounding like an alien invading a circus. The image stuck with me and it seemed fitting to name this song collection after such a bizarre turn of phrase. I wondered about who gets to decide who the aliens are at a circus, since the word could easily be applied to both the performers and the audience. A lot of my lyrics are from the point of view of a concept or a personified feeling, so it felt fitting to have a title that could also flip around.
Were you going for a different sound/approach on this album?
With our previous release I was fairly new to recording and under time pressure, so it all happened very quickly and I was learning on the go. With this one I really took my time and didn’t compromise at all, so I think it sounds closer to the version in my head. I’m still learning how to make that happen, and hope the next release will be even better at capturing the sound I’m after!
Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
Not exactly. I wanted to see what I could achieve electronically since we didn’t have a budget for session musicians so I programmed all the instruments except John’s Warr and double bass, and the accordion and ukulele on ‘The Main Attraction’.
Is there a particular single/track that you feel captures the essence of the album?
I think ‘Silver or Sulfur’ is the one, for me, that gives the best impression of how I hope the album comes across as a whole.
Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
Yes! Physical CDs come with a hand-cut mirror feature, with gorgeous artwork by Zephyr. Physical and digital copies are available for purchase on Bandcamp, and the album can be streamed on Spotify.
Are you working on a video/videos for any of the songs?
We shot some footage for Axident, but being DIY it ended up not being particularly useful in the end. We do have a cool lyric video on the way for The Question, though!