I have a problem: I can't think of Beaches without thinking of that scene in School of Rock where Jack Black pretends to have had his face melted by a big fat guitar solo. I'm sorry to have brought that up and yeah, some people might say that's the kind of thing you keep to yourself and take to your grave but fuck it. There it is.As far as I'm concerned it's a compliment. I care for a shredding, I really do. As one of Australia's pre-eminent psych-rock bands of the last decade, Beaches are no stranger to a good old fashioned shredding—their second album She Beats was full of driving, effects-laden guitars. The kind of stuff you play on a road trip you really underestimated, something to get you through those last fifteen hours.If new single "Void" is anything to go by, Beaches have still got it. Four years since their last release, the band are back, with Second of Spring, due Sep 8 on Chapter Music .Guitarist Ali McCann said "Void is a conversation between two people, who discuss a prolonged absence, a temporary disappearance into a space of emptiness. We wrote "Void" in our rehearsal space in Reservoir (Melbourne) during a prolific period of songwriting. It was produced by John Lee (Phaedra Studios), who also plays synthesiser on this track. Karla and I are on vocals. There is a restrained interaction between them, tempered by the motorik drive of the instrumentation."Listen to "Void" below, and order the single here.
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Image: Darren Sylvester