Naarm / Melbourne-based indie duo Skydeck have released their anticipated sophomore album Coupon, available now on limited-edition 12″ vinyl and digitally via Dinosaur City Records, Osborne Again and Kingfisher Bluez.
Skydeck is the project of Mitchum Clemens (Ciggie Witch) and Dom Kearton, joined live by Liam Parsons (Good Morning), Dainis Lacey and Ambrin Hasnain (Cool Sounds). Taking inspiration from cold, post-punk sounds of the 1980s, the band makes use of FM synthesis and the bright, clean and sometimes artificial sounds it provides, contrasted with distorted guitars, motorik drums and upbeat basslines.
Coupon, the follow-up to 2019’s Australian Music Prize-nominated Eureka Moment, was written and recorded in early 2020, with the duo physically separated throughout the entire process: one in Mexico, the other back home in Australia. Writing the album was as much an artistic endeavour as it was a way to stay connected with each other over long distances, with songs and ideas acting like letters back and forth via countless email exchanges and phone memos.
While Eureka Moment gestured towards an anti-capitalist sentiment, Coupon sees the band less focused on observing society’s issues from afar, rather reflecting on their own involvement within them.
The etymology of the word coupon can be read as ‘something that helps you cope’, a fitting title for music made by two friends trying to stay connected and make sense of their place in the world together.
Coupon is out now via Dinosaur City Records, Osborne Again and Kingfisher Bluez.
Release: August 27th, 2021, Dinosaur City Records/Osborne Again/Kingfisher Bluez.
Words: Dinosaur City Records