The Name Of The Game For Dear Seattle & Their New EP Is Reinvention

20 July 2017 | 1:02 am | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

With their solid new self-titled EP, Dear Seattle have changed things up, and it's a change for the better!

With their solid new self-titled EP, Dear Seattle have changed things up, and it's a change for the better!



English folk-rock musician Frank Turner is one of my all-time favourite artists. If you're aren't familiar with him, Turner's lyrics are strikingly direct and honest; something that's become a real staple of his work over the years. He and his supporting band, The Sleeping Souls, mould acoustic, rock, blues, folk and (at times) elements of punk from Turner's personal influences and his own musical past in an incredibly effective and authentic way.

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Getting closer to the actual point that I’m going to make here, a personal favourite Frank Turner record of mine is 2013’s ‘Tape Deck Heart’ – second only to his immaculate 2011 album, ‘England Keep My Bones’. It’s this former record of deeply detailed love loss that has created some of the singer-songwriter’s biggest tracks, such as ‘Recovery’, ‘Four Simple Words’, and ‘The Way I Tend To Be’, among others. What spurned ‘Tape Deck Heart’ into life was that Turner had gone through an incredibly rough break-up with his long time partner prior to writing and recording said album. Yet through such a romantic shitstorm, he came out the other side, immensely battered and weary all-over but coming out the other side nonetheless. All with enough heart, passion and ideas intact to fuel a whole new release of highly relatable, finely tuned folk-rock anthems for the romantically happy and romantically scorned alike.

Finally arriving at my point, a similar situation of a serious, long term relationship sadly ending was also experienced by Brae Fisher, the vocalist and guitarist for Sydney's Dear Seattle. Despite such a painful experience, it resulted in a silver lining in the form of helping to produce the group's best work to date; their open-diary, grungy, garage-rock sounding self-titled EP. Even though it was released just week, it's very quickly become my favourite Dear Seattle release to date.

Dear Seattle EP

As they currently stand, Dear Seattle's sound in 2017 wears similar markings to that their local peers, but in an execution that's genuine rather than shoe-horned or copy cat. See, they carry the punk rock grit and heart similar to that of Luca Brasi, a level of sheer unfiltered lyrical honesty that would make Ceres proud, the solid songwriting chops displayed by Introvert and Tired Lion, as well as the infectious vocal melodies and guitar hooks of Violent Soho. (Well, maybe with just a littles less distortion and fuzz to the guitars than those latter national heroes often employ).

However, these recent Triple J darlings from the Northern Beaches didn't always sound the way they do now. Prior to this recent self-titled release, this four-piece was once a five piece and one that played music of the generic melodic hardcore variety. During this part of their band's lifespan, they just seemingly ticked off their genre's trope boxes with little rhyme or reason, with songs like 'You Won't Feel A Thing', Keep Moving On', and their 'Words Are Often Useless' EP all proving that point I feel. Whereas the quartet's sound now nicely slots alongside the other Australian acts I mentioned in the above paragraph, before they were more akin to that of Fresh Nelson or Perspectives. In fact, Dear Seattle's recent sonic trajectory closely follows that of their peers in the aforementioned Fresh Nelson, a former melodic hardcore band who also underwent a similar sonic and line-up metamorphosis and who truly blossomed last year with their sublime 'Take My Time' EP. (Coincidentally enough, Fresh Nelson and Dear Seattle also had a split release together back in 2014).

To be honest with you all, I didn't think that Dear Seattle were very good back then. Not at all. As their older material was coming out, it never once spoke me and it still doesn't now in retrospect. I just couldn't happily pick up what this band had been putting down. However, that's all changed now as their new six-track EP has me hooked. It sees the band shedding their melodic hardcore cocoon and sees them soaring off into the skies of catchy, fuzzy, emotionally-tinged garage-rock. The very kind that adores albums like 'Hungry Ghost' to no end, has been through a really tough breakup, had a few too many beers and has been spending far too much time with the boys in the studio and on the road.

And that's all for the better, as here there's a real sense of drive and purpose that was missing before. Plus, Dear Seattle have never sounded better!

Dear Seattle Live

In their recent "Up Until Now" mini-doco, and in talking about what drove this new EP into life and the musical changes that the band have undertaken of late, Fisher confirmed that it all came down to the previously mentioned break up he went through, saying:

 “This new EP is all about reinvention and self-evolution following loss. Centered around the most painful breakup I have ever had to endure, this record illustrates both the agony of my journey, and the internal change I had to conjure to come out the other side with positivity in my stride."

Anyone reading this who has gone through a messy breakup at one point or another knows that that shit just ain't easy and that sometimes, such moments often destroy more than they define. However, much like Frank Turner, taking that pain and loss and channelling it into music is the best medicine, and as both 'Tape Deck Heart' and Dear Seattle's titular EP show, using such methods to expel such pain can have fantastic results. To digress for a second, if you reading this right now are going through such a difficult time due to relationship woes, please just know three things.

1: I am very sorry to hear that. Please know that you aren't alone.

2. Things will get better eventually. Even if it seems complete and utter shithouse right now.

3. And finally, I implore you to listen to releases like Dear Seattle's latest EP. Trust me, such music will help.

Of course, dealing with such highly emotional, close-to-home topics like the themes covered on this new EP isn't necessarily new territory for Dear Seattle; just look at the lyrical content from their 2015 single 'Momentarily' and on earlier material. But with each of these six solid tracks, the lyrical directness and emotional honesty cuts so much harder and so much deeper than when Dear Seattle musted up before as a below average melodic hardcore band.

For instance, the resounding chorus of "Fuck being sad, I'm so over it/Fuck having my head/Three feet in the sand" on breakout single 'The Meadows' is a youthful rally cry that's as uplifting as it is endearing. Which is a fuckin' lot, in case you were wondering! The very same goes for the warm, distorted chords and fuzzy bass-driven nature of 'The Things You Do', and it's utterly cutting chorus of "It isn't me, it's you" as well as the Ceres-ish 'Cut You Deep', whose lyrics pull no punches and whose gang vocal hooks are crying out for an audience to reciprocate them. (Something the band and eager fans will more than likely deliver on come their remaining July live shows and first ever headline tour in August).

Sometimes, the best way to battle loss, heartache, and drunken loneliness is to just dust yourself off and say "fuck it" and simply do you in the finite, chaotic moment of right now, and that usually means cracking a cold one with your mates (as the clip for 'The Meadows' shows). Which is exactly what Dear Seattle have achieved here with every moment of their eponymous release - presenting themselves as openly and as honestly as possible to friends, family and fans. The consequences of such vulnerability and honesty may indeed be damned, but the sheer quality of 'The Meadows' and its wider, parent EP are anything but.

Yet for all of the lively, brash attitude of self-love and self-fulfilment that this EP finds a great deal of time for on its first half, the second half is far more reflective, vulnerable and at times, features many more sombre musical moments. This begins to show with the melancholic vocals and depressive lyrics of one yearning to not be forgotten once they're dead that propels the minor-laden, thrashy moments of 'Concrete' along; a tone that creeps through hauntingly so when the drums and guitars back off for the song's intimate bridge section.

The mood darkens further still and is taken to a whole other extreme with the penultimate 'Quiet', a song that displays the kind of soothing, clean guitar melodies and calming instrumental interplay that would characterise uncountable melodic hardcore compositions. Not unlike those from Dear Seattle's own past. But the building and evolving dynamic of this second-to-last track surge onwards in a fantastic manner, making the punchy call of "Fuck it, I'm leaving" a truly impactful one. And one that makes the proceeding lead guitar melody and blood-pumping "breakdown" (well, if you could even call it that) that much more meaningful overall too.

Rounding out this EP is ‘Afterthought’, a song to be labelled as per its namesake would be a grave disserve to its weight and importance. There's a particular air hanging around this closing track that this is what the EP has been building up towards the whole time; a mammoth explosion of one's inner most feelings and insecurities backed up by a pumping rhythm section and simple but effective chord progressions. It's also here that Fisher takes his unnuanced yet incredibly heartfelt and no-bullshit lyrics in perhaps their rawest and honest manner thus far. Really, you could take your pick of the deeply personal lot, but here's two batches of lyrics that really stood out to me: "As I'd planned; As a man with a sense of content since I heard you say, "Stop trying to be "somebody", you've got no job and you're wasting money/You live with your mum and you pay her nothing", and "I know I'm nothingbut I'm just trying to be somebody/I've got no job and I've got no money/I think with my dick and I over-drink, but at least I'm fucking happy".

This terrific, near-anthemic final ride is one of, if not the finest moment of the whole EP. 'Afterthought' reminds me of the kind of song that plays during the closing credits for a touchingly feel-good yet tear-jerking film, essentially making it the perfect cap-off to what's been a bloody ripper of an emotive EP.

Finally, in that video documentary, Fisher mentions how it wasn't just a big lifestyle change but also how a change in scenery for this EP's writing process really was for the best, stating that:

"Instead of writing song by song in a bedroom over an extended period of time, we chose to go away for a week to a farm in the middle of nowhere and just churn it out as a group. In my opinion, that’s the reason it is all so connected and whole, because it truly is a snapshot of where we were at in that period of time.” 

And that’s exactly what this well-rounded EP is; a pure, cohesive snapshot of Fisher's and Dear Seattle's respective personal and musical growth. What further builds upon all of these strengths - good songwriting ideas, a more fitting sound, and brave lyrics - is that the band again worked with longtime producer/engineer buddy Fletcher Matthews and received a solid mastering courtesy of Alan Douches. All resulting in the band's newer sound being shifted into a brighter, refreshed and tighter sonic environment; one that's fully allowed for Dear Seattle's music to move leaps and bounds from where they were a mere two or three years ago. I'll cheers to that.



Dear Seattle's self-titled EP is out now - buy it here or stream it over here. You can also catch the band on the following dates around Australia:

FRI 28TH JULY – HOME TAVERN, WAGGA WAGGA w/ KINGSWOOD

SAT 29TH JULY - SS&A, ALBURY w/ KINGSWOOD

FRI 4TH AUGUST – BRIGHTON UP BAR, SYDNEY

SAT 5TH AUGUST – YAH YAH’S, MELBOURNE

THU 17TH AUGUST – MOONSHINE BAR, MANLY

FRI 18TH AUGUST – BLACK BEAR LODGE, BRISBANE

SAT 19TH AUGUST – SHAKA FEST, GOLD COAST

w/ GRINSPOON, DZ DEATHRAYS, WAAX, TIRED LION + MORE

SUN 20TH AUGUST – RAD BAR, WOLLONGONG (ALL AGES)

You can find any and all tickets here

Dear Seattle Tour