Following the release of their fantastically bold and poignant debut album 'Hysterical Strength', we caught up with one of our favourite live acts in the country, DEADLETTER. Their music has a surface level magnetism that hooks you in with its powerful and explorative performance yet, once you dig deeper, you find whole new levels of poetic sentiment and thematic intricacy. We spoke about the release of the new record and what lies beneath the surface.
Q. Why did you feel like this was the perfect time to release your debut album? And has it felt like a long time coming?
A. “I guess that for artists the perfect time to release an album would be upon its completion, that, however, is not the way this industry works. I think 4 years into a project is a “long time coming”, however it’s technically a summary of three years as opposed to 4, with it having been finished last December”.
Q. Were all these tracks written with the album in mind or were there some older songs that have made it on?
A. “There are a number of songs which have existed and have been played live since 2 years ago; More Heat! and Practise Whilst you Preach being the most obvious. The rest came together far closer to the album’s finish. When we chose the track listing, we whittled down to those 12 songs, and treated the album as two sides, as opposed to song 1 to song 12”.
Q. Can you explain the idea behind the album title?
A. “Hysterical Strength is a phenomena whereby an event which causes mental anguish can induce a significant change in physical ability, allowing a human to far surpass their physical limits. It’s also the song that opens side B, and we deemed it to be an aptly bold name for the debut album”.
Q. Can you explain your concept behind the album artwork?
A. “We worked alongside North-Eastern photographer Ian MacDonald, whose photos capture people and things of and around areas in which Alfie, George and myself grew up and spent time when we were younger. His imagery is striking, and at times (such as on the album cover) menacing. This combination made us jump at the opportunity to use his imagery for our artwork”.
Q. What's your favourite song on the album lyrically and why?
A. “I would say Mother, owing to how rapidly the lyrics fell out of me upon watching the credits roll on the Bong Joon Ho film of the same name. As with a lot of my lyrics, I wrote them and then didn’t look at them again until months later in a rehearsal room. I find that I am far better able to appreciate and critique my words after some time has passed since their completion”.
Q. What would you say are the main lyrical themes on the album in general?
A. “There are plenty, but if I had to choose one theme I would say it is about what it means to be a human being, thus an observer of other human beings”.
Q. What do you want people to go away feeling after listening to the record?
A. “Again, that is not so much up to me to decide. I know how I feel, I know, to a degree, how the rest of the group feels, all I’d hope is that we are able to evoke a response of some kind. Whether that be love, hate, comfort, sickliness, disgust, adoration, etc”.
Q. How do you balance the ideas of 'making people think and making people dance'? Is it hard to achieve both?
A. “Perhaps this question really highlights the fact that as a musical artist, you are afforded the luxury of multiple mediums by which you can attempt to captivate people. I’d say, though I don’t know for certain, that the thinking side of it would be best aligned with listening to the music in a non live setting, and the dancing would be best aligned with the opposite”.
Q. What is your favourite track from the album to play live?
A. “We’ve definitely had a great deal of enjoyment playing Credit to Treason, the album opener, since first debuting it live”.
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