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The Jezabels — Synthia (Feb 12, 2016)

The Jezabels — Synthia (Feb 12, 2016)

                   The Jezabels — Synthia (Feb 12, 2016)The Jezabels — Synthia (Feb 12, 2016)•   Formed in 2007
Location: Surry Hills ~ Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Album release: Feb 12, 2016
Record Label: Caroline International P&D
Duration:     54:00
Tracks:
01. Stand And Deliver
02. My Love Is My Disease
03. Smile
04. Unnatural
05. A Message From My Mothers Passed
06. Come Alive
07. Pleasure Drive
08. Flowers In The Attic
09. If Ya Want Me
10. Stamina
℗ 2015 The Jezabels
Personnel:
•   Sam Lockwood guitar
•   Nik Kaloper drums
•   Hayley Mary vocals
•   Heather Shannon keys
•   SYNTHIA is the third album from the acclaimed Australian band and was recorded in Sydney with producer/engineer Lachlan Mitchell. Of the album and recording process, Hayley Mary notes, “This is a record we made ourselves, at our own behest… we just had a natural momentum. We were back in Sydney [from London] in January, got together to rehearse and wrote about four songs in a week.” She continues, “Previously I’ve shrouded myself a lot in mystery and the language of romanticism; played roles and stuff–which reflected some kind of truth about how I felt as a woman. Now I feel like I can be much more upfront… The truth about how it feels to be a woman has become a more prominent part of the general conversation in the last couple of years… these are exciting times. I think we’ve made an album that celebrates that.”
•   2016 sees The Jezabels return with their third studio LP Synthia, released independently on February 12 via MGM Distribution. After 18 months off the road, writing and recording with long–time producer Lachlan Mitchell, The Jezabels and Frontier Touring are excited to announce a national major cities tour with special guest, 21–year–old electro pop sensation Eves The Behavior.
•   High expectations are a given now for The Jezabels, 7 years since those first EPs — The Man Is Dead, She’s So Hard and Dark Storm — began their slow burn from Sydney to the world; 4 years since Prisoner scooped the Australian Music Prize and set stages ablaze from their breakthrough performance at Splendour in the Grass to Lollapalooza; and almost two years since The Brink and the spectacular global onslaught that followed, with talked about live performance slots at Montreal Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, T in The Park, Deichbrand and more. Although the first official single from the new album isn’t due for release until early 2016, the band have released the video for six–minute epic ‘Come Alive’ online to give fans a taste of what’s to come.
•   “What’s a girl to do, standing in the spotlight?”
•   It’s a fine question to ponder as the curtain rises on The Jezabels’ third album. High expectations are a given now, seven years since those first EPs began their slow burn from Sydney to the world; four since PRISONER scooped the Australian Music Prize and set stages ablaze from Splendour to Lollapalooza.
•   “What’s it gonna be? Maybe it’s a broken heart.”
•   Yeah, they know that feeling too, after the turmoil of illness and dislocation surrounding their aptly titled second album, THE BRINK. Don’t even ask. Just cue a second #2 debut and another spectacular global onslaught.
•   What’s a band to do? The answer is short but loaded to the teeth. SYNTHIA.
•   The title gets Hayley Mary talking in pictures as big as the music itself. From the Greek goddess of the moon to ‘80s synth–pop goddess Cyndi Lauper. From The Heroine's Journey to the rock world's simplistic perception of the synthetic feminine versus the authentic male.
•   All that’s between the lines, of course. The Jezabels didn’t choose their biblical namesake at random when Hayley and Heather met Sam and Nik at Sydney Uni almost a decade ago. Their deeply felt gender agenda has only grown more potent and personal as the world bends slowly to its fury.
•   Here their Trojan horse of big, cinematic rock has escalated in scale. With PRISONER producer Lachlan Mitchell back at the desk and Heather’s growing arsenal of new and vintage keyboards­ pushing the textural frontier, SYNTHIA is a bold assertion of craft that sets this band apart in a world groaning with blokes doing their best impersonation of rock authenticity. 
•   “Heather had a couple of new synthesisers, so a lot of ideas were coming from her and then we'd build the songs around them,” Hayley says. “We were back in Sydney [from London] in January, we just got together to rehearse and we wrote about four songs in a week.
•   “This is a record we made ourselves, at our own behest,” she says significantly. “People were actually surprised when they heard it was happening. We were surprised. We just had a natural momentum.”
•   The sound keeps growing,” says Mitchell, who witnessed the songs’ evolution over nearly seven months in the studio. “Sam’s guitar has transformed into this big, cinematic thing enveloped by effects and washes… Nik is the guy that gives the power and the intricacy to all of that. He’s always time–shifting, thinking up new parts to suit the big picture.”
•   SYNTHIA plays like a widescreen heroine’s journey in 10 parts — or maybe 11, if you count the swooning opening dream sequence of Stand And Deliver, with its spoken word invocation of Shirley Temple via Edie Sedgwick.
The far bookend is Stamina, another seven–minute drama that rises from liquid guitar ripples to an ecstatic, crashing crescendo of drums and determination.
•   The pendulum swings from ether calm to operatic epiphany within the space of any given song. The electronic glitch and thrash of My Love Is My Disease balances the symphonic undulations of A Message From My Mothers Passed.
•   The sinuous groove and sigh of Smile and the sensuous swing and electro burbles of Pleasure Drive find the band forging breathtaking new scaffolds of rhythm and melody for stories that have never been more timely.
•   “Previously I’ve shrouded myself a lot in mystery and the language of romanticism; played roles and stuff — which reflected some kind of truth about how I felt as a woman,” Hayley says.
•   “Now I feel like I can be much more upfront about all that. The truth about how it feels to be a woman has become a much more prominent part of the general conversation in the last couple of years,” she says. “These are exciting times. I think we've made an album that celebrates that.”
EXTRAORDINARY NOTICE:
•   The Jezabels’ scheduled world tour has been cancelled until further notice due to the health of keyboardist Heather Shannon and the decision by the group not to tour without the full band.
•   A statement has been released from the band, today, explaining:
Three years ago Heather was diagnosed with a unique type of ovarian cancer. Although she has been able to maintain life as usual generally, between treatments, the time has come for her to undergo further immediate treatment which will require her to stay in Sydney.
•   We were very excited to be hitting the road again in support of our third album, SYNTHIA, but sadly due to a sudden turn of events Heather’s condition requires attention now so touring in the proposed time frame is no longer possible.
Heather adds personally:
•   “Up until now, I have preferred to not let this diagnosis get in the way of getting on with life. I feel a deep frustration at this new roadblock, as I now have to take a step back and undergo treatment. The band means so much to me, and cancelling the tour has been a very sad decision. I am hopeful that in the near future we will be back on the road again playing music we love. This album means so much to us, and we were so looking forward to sharing it live with everyone.
Having said that, I feel very lucky to be in the care of the public health system here in Australia. I have met many inspiring people and I am receiving the best treatment possible. There is a lot of research going into ovarian cancer at the moment, and a big push for awareness. If you would like to make a donation to either help awareness or research, follow the links below:
Ovarian Cancer Australia — https://ovariancancer.net.au
Australian New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group — https://www.anzgog.org.au/default.aspx
Thank you for reading. See you on the road soon you lovely people!”
Website: http://thejezabels.com/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/jezabelsband
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thejezabels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJezabels/
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The Jezabels — Synthia (Feb 12, 2016)

ALBUM COVERS XI.