Architecture In Helsinki
The future is completely open for Architecture In Helsinki. Last year's groundbreaking, ground-shifting crossover album, Places Like This, presented countless threads the band could follow.
Their fans have come to expect the unexpected, and so have the band themselves. Over three albums, Architecture In Helsinki have secured for themselves a unique position; where anything is possible, but nothing is predictable.
Places Like This proved this by taking the band from much-loved indie contenders to chart-topping world conquerors. First single, Heart It Races, saw Architecture In Helsinki crack the American charts in a big way, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard Singles Chart and number 3 on the Billboard Dances Sales Chart. Places Like This reached number 5 on the Billboard Electronic Albums Chart and spent five weeks in the top ten of the CMJ Album Chart.
At just over half an hour in length, Places Like This was Architecture In Helsinki's shortest album. But despite its brevity, it's their densest, most idea-packed recording. The album's mind boggling scope encompasses the steel drum-laden, dance floor inducement of Heart It Races, the frantic, sly stutter-funk of Debbie, the spastic sexbeat of Hold Music and a million other flavours of fun.
Recorded and mixed by New Yorker Chris Coady, Places Like This was a snapshot of the summer Bird spent living in a shoebox apartment in Williamsburg. An extroverted explosion of a record, the band exorcised their collective demons in a joyous celebration of sound.
Architecture in Helsinki have certainly come a long way since the late nineties, when Bird was a gangly kid in a New South Wales country town messing around with his buddies Jamie Mildren and Sam Perry. They moved to Melbourne and soon found likeminded musical souls in Kellie Sutherland and Gus Franklin. The five of them have continued on the Architecture In Helsinki roller coaster to this day.
Their relentless years of touring have turned them in to a live force to be reckoned with. Having played festivals from Munich to Mexico and headlined shows from Bologna to Boston, the band has built a fierce international following. Architecture In Helsinki live shows are a heady blend of sweat, heart, energy and fun. The band thrives on the energy they share with an audience.
Their shows are an open expression of communal experience and that rarely felt but precious emotion - joy.
Formed in Melbourne, but now just as likely to be found residing in San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Anacortes or New York, Architecture In Helsinki have finally arrived at a place that feels like home. A home that's not a geographical space, but a state of mind. Get homely with them at Southbound.