Melbourne based electro-rock band City Calm Down release their new album Echoes in Blue today (April 6), the follow up to their acclaimed 2016 record In A Restless House.
From the bleak opening line, “It turned to shit on April 18” off the album opener Joan, I’m Disappearing to the punk-flavoured frenzy of Blood, and the simmering emotional journey of the title track, Jack Bourke, Sam Mullaly, Lee Armstrong and Jeremy Sonnenberg – have consolidated their strengths and stretched their horizons with Echoes In Blue. Bourke’s vocal delivery is more grounded and assured than ever, and the band’s moody, synth-laced rock follows suit.
Reuniting with producer Malcolm Besley (Northeast Party House), who helmed the first album, In A Restless House, City Calm Down recorded locally in two 10-day stretches before finishing the record on evenings and weekends over the following six months. The dozen new songs that resulted were written during weekends away in the Victorian countryside and the members’ home studios in inner Melbourne.
City Calm Down’s Sam Mullaly and Jack Bourke sat down with Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips for a chat about the making of Echoes in Blue.