End Of Fashion
You might be thinking that End Of Fashion have been a bit quiet of late...That's true, but they've been hard at it, working on Book Of Lies, the follow-up to their self-titled debut album of 2005 and encountering quite the journey inside that very process.
End of Fashion's debut rocketed them into prominence on the Australian music scene. Singles O Yeah and The Game embedded the band in the charts and in the hearts of fans across the country, with O Yeah winning two ARIAs and a nomination for the prestigious APRA Song Of The Year Award. Over the next two years, the band toured Australia and overseas doing what they do best - performing live.
By early 2007, it was time for the band to wind down and put serious thought into their follow up record. Events in singer/guitarist Justin Burford's personal life lead to the songwriter heading to New York for a few months; to get lost in a big city and to some degree, stumble upon inspiration.
Fortunately the desire to express these conflicted emotions resulted in the kind of soul-searching that lyricists come to thrive upon and work began in earnest once he got home. In the process of gaining this fresh perspective on their new material, the band invited some outside voices in. By late 2007, Justin was working on vocal arrangements with fellow Perth musician Andy Lawson, of acclaimed WA outfit The Avenues and a respected producer/arranger in his own right.
As Justin turned out fresh song ideas and explored writing on different instruments more extensively, guitarist Rodney Aravena and bassist Tom King worked on the song arrangements.
While the band's first album was recorded in the US with Dennis Herring (Modest Mouse, Elvis Costello), End Of Fashion were determined to make this record at home, in Perth. Throughout the recording process they held on to Dennis' words of wisdom, to always ‘serve the song,' but with a mission to make it more personal and more collaborative. One could say it's a return to the band we first saw with their debut EP.
Lawson continued his work, staying on to co-steer with renowned producer, and original collaborator on their first EP, Magoo (Regurgitator, Midnight Oil, Powderfinger) whom the boys respect for his ability to ‘dirt things up'... amongst other talents.
And rather than aim squarely for three-minutes-of-perfection at every turn, End Of Fashion have crafted an album that channels diversity in its entirety. Far from the band simply firing off from Justin's newest chord progression, during the ongoing process, each member helped to add layers and to fashion different parts for each new song.
And so, Book Of Lies was born.
Tim Palmer (U2, The Cure, Robert Plant) mixed the album in Los Angeles, adding a new dimension to the musicality. The Clash's London Calling and Bowie's Station To Station were inspiration points at the time to Rodney for the spirit and energy of the album, and while the pop nous and melodic attentiveness the band displayed on their debut LP makes a signature return, End Of Fashion have crafted an album that is more brutal and angular than the last.
The album's first single, Fussy, was actually the last song written. It's a dark song that plays to an up-tempo beat, in which a serial killer talks to his victim. This reflects the nature of duality that exists in the band and on this record.
Witness the End, at Southbound.