FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

An Interview with GL Ahead of Their Debut LP ‘Touch’

The synth-pop duo's highly anticipated debut album is out July 15.
All images by Alan Weedon

When synth-pop duo GL casually danced into our lives just a little over a year ago with perfectly crafted singles "Won't You See" and "What Happened To Us," they were a sign of the times. Firstly, the eighties—sincerity, synth and drum machines—were back. Secondly, Australian music was at peak form. Since then, we've had the pleasure of seeing Graeme and Ella play live—Ella's voice is truly something to behold—and a slew of equally enthralling singles, including last year's satiating "Number One" and this year's "Grip"—the first single attributed to their impending debut LP, Touch. Second single "Hallucinate," out today, is just as good again.

Advertisement

Touch is a full and captivating release, nothing less than you'd expect from an outfit like GL. Each song feels like something you might stumble upon in your mum or dad's record collection and covet, and yet still has a place on a 2am dancefloor in 2k16. Ahead of the release of Touch, we spoke to Ella and Graeme about its making, and took some photographs of the pair in their hometown of Melbourne.


Congratulations on Touch. It's just as great as we hoped it'd be. How long has it been in the making?

Ella: Thank you! We started writing songs for the album pretty soon after we started playing shows about two years ago, at first because we wanted to have a long enough set and then wanting to build a body of work where we could fully explore this sound. The album is 14 songs long and there were many more that didn't make the final cut. We worked on the album on and off for about a year and a half.

What were you listening to while writing it?

Ella: Haima Marriott who mixed and co-produced the record introduced me to Art Of Noise, this inspired me to want to add more atmospheric soundscape type sounds in the mix. I also listened to Delia Derbyshire from the BBC radiophonic lab, Janet Jackson, Little Dragon, Italians Do It Better and Madonna. Trying to listen to music that have the right balance of sound and song.

Graeme: Lots of 1984.

It's still very much that same pop-heartbreak-type stuff from before. Do you feel like you were working with a lot of the same themes or is there new stuff going on here?

Advertisement

Ella: Yes there are a lot of love and heartbreak songs, but it's also a celebration of love past, present and future. Whether that's love for yourself or others, sometimes we can break our own heart by being unkind to ourselves. Physical love is a big part of the theme of Touch, too; being able to admire the physical in all shapes, sizes, colours, and forms. I want the listener to feel free in their body and move accordingly, let your body do the talking.

Graeme: There's a consistent theme that runs through our music and we have a certain that we stick to, but there are some more experimental aspects of the album such as the two instrumentals and our attempt at New Jack Swing.

What was the hardest, and the greatest thing about making this record?

Ella: Just when you think it over there's more work to be done. We could have put this album out a year ago but maybe we would have left off some magic, "Hallucinate" was one of the very last additions and I'm glad we took the time to finish it. Also hard things include: confined spaces, computer screens, copious amounts of trail mix, having to explain to people what you do with your life, George Brandis etc.

Graeme: Hardest? The waiting game. Greatest? Working with a range of talented people such as Haima Marriott, Jacky Winter and Andrei Eremin

Do any songs stand out in particular as special or noteworthy?

Graeme: Our next single, "Hallucinate," was a very late addition to the album and it came together really quickly. It has a certain energy that most likely came from the spontaneity of the writing.

Advertisement

Ella: I love slow songs, for me they are always the ones I like to write and record. "Fall For You" and "When Your Love Was Mine" are some of my favourites.

What, if anything, about Australia influences your music?

Graeme: There is an abundance of great music, past and present, coming from Australia and we are all part of a thriving live music and festival scene, so it's impossible to not be influenced by that.

Ella: I think Australians make really great minimalist art and music, maybe this has something to do with the space in our non urban landscape. There are a broad range of cultural influences here, we are still struggling to connect with our cultural identity but in the process making something quite unique.

Where else do you take inspiration from?

Ella: My influence is mostly non musician: having a conversation, reading a book, going to see an exhibition often influences my work more than listening to a record. I guess music is the best way I know how to express myself but the stimulus can come from anything and everything.

And finally, are there any musicians/artists/songs/other—local or otherwise—that fans of GL should check out or know about?

Graeme: I just got my hands on the new double EP by The Goods from Sydney and I've been listening to it on repeat since last Friday. Jacky Winter (who was on engineering duties for our a chunk of our album) is an incredible producer and performer and has an album nearing release which we're very excited about.

Ella: I'm so hooked on U.S. Girls, it's the best thing since sliced bread.

"Number One," released last year.

Touch is out via Midnight Feature/Plastic World on July 15, you can preorder it here. Follow GL on SoundCloud and Facebook.