Sweet Melancholy is out now!
Image: Nick Valentini.
Boorloo/Perth dream-pop quartet, Dolce Blue have dropped their sophomore album, Sweet Melancholy. To celebrate the release, the band are taking us behind-the-scenes of their recording process whilst creating the collection of songs.
“Sweet Melancholy documents me entering my early 20’s and navigating life as an adult. Generally I write lyrics about things that stick in my brain, I usually don’t really know what I’m talking about at the time but upon further reflection can be like, oh, that's what that’s about,” explains vocalist Veronica Zurzolo. “It unpacks failed relationships, grieving the loss of my Oma (grandmother), the struggles of working in the music industry as a female and remembering old friends who seemed to have just disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Hot off the release, the band are set to embark on a national tour. Kicking off in Boorloo / Perth this Friday, the run of shows will continue on to Goomburrup / Bunbury, Margaret River, Kinjarling / Albany , Eora / Sydney, Naarm / Melbourne and Tartanya / Adelaide, before wrapping up in Walyalup / Fremantle on July 30. Tickets are on sale now!
Images: Supplied.
Veronica: Walking into Michael’s studio is like being a kid and walking into a toy shop, he has this chest full of instruments to play around with.
Lachy: It just brought the songs together, experimenting and expanding from our usual instruments, and trying out new sounds. We would find something that we could make a focal point of the songs. From the crazy organ guitar to the magic egg.
Brody: Michal used a variety of crazy microphones, and just craziness in a good way.
It was good to see the songs evolve when we added new elements like shaker, saxophone, organ, trumpet, and claps.
Daniel: We played around with the acoustics of his house/ studio, like recording trumpet in the hallway.
Brody: And we experimented with the sound of the drums too, like how we used two crash cymbals instead of hi hat cymbals for ‘Dream Catcher’, which produced a unique sound. We tried alfoil, and also used many metres of tape on the drums, just to see how it affected the sound.
Veronica: Recording over 2 years and trying to still continue working and studying, we segmented our recording sessions to fit everyone’s schedules, so it was rare that we all were in the studio at the same time.
Brody: As the drummer I would record first with just a rough vocal and guitar track Veronica put together, and not hear most of the song until it was finished, which was an experience in itself. It was a nice surprise when I heard it completed.
Lachy: I think we always came up with the best ideas when we were able to bounce things off each other.
Brody: We weren't always recording together, but when we were there together the experience was more enjoyable.
Daniel: Recording and getting to listen to everyone's part individually allowed me to gain a deeper appreciation for the composition of our own songs. I think it's harder to get that when we're playing live together because we're usually focusing on just our own part.
Lachy: Recording was challenging for me especially in my solos, because I play something different each time, but had to solidify something and stick to it. Michael was helpful and supportive though, letting me roll through as many takes as I needed to get it to a version I was happy with.
Veronica: Most songs came together pretty well, except for ‘Problem’.
Brody: ‘Problem’ was a problem to record.
Daniel: ‘Problem’ lived up to its name.
Lachy: We had difficulties choosing tempo, and ended up just rerecording it again, but in the end it was no problemo.
Veronica: I think the trumpet and the saxophone saved it.
Lachy: Thanks Bridget for Problem solving.
Brody: I really liked recording ‘Grow’ because Michael helped with the drum part and had a lot of useful suggestions.
Lachy: I liked how ‘Brown Leather Jacket’ came together with all the synth parts.
Daniel: I liked ‘Falling’ because the bass part was fun to play. I like how the style of the song lends more into a jazzy noir aesthetic.
Veronica: For me, ‘Goodbyes’ was my favourite, adding layer upon layer of guitar and all the lush synths in was a lot of fun.
Brody: We wrote these songs so long ago that it was good to finally record them. I'm sure Veronica shares this sentiment.
Veronica: Some of these songs I wrote before I even knew the band, and it's nice to see them take on a new life, and new meanings for me. Overall the studio experience for me was the best, because I got to do my favourite thing with my favourite people.
Sweet Melancholy is out now!