2020 saw the return of KINGSWOOD, the Melbourne favourites delivering a career-defining, critically acclaimed third studio album in Juveniles. The album, signalling a new era for the band, landed at #13 on the ARIA Albums Chart and reintroduced KINGSWOOD to fans and newcomers alike; their love for unabashed rock and roll channelled through some of their most cohesive and well-rounded songwriting to date.
And now, with only a few months left in what has been a year nobody saw coming, KINGSWOOD unveil a new side of the Juveniles project – the 12 track album, reimagined.
The band takes the music of Juveniles into a more intimate and nuanced sonic space, swapping the harder rock sounds for Americana-flecked, blues charm. Here, the band presents a fitting companion piece – Reveries.
Given the current state of lockdown in Victoria, the recording of Reveries came together quickly across four days spent hunkered down at North Melbourne’s Newmarket Studios. KINGSWOOD, working with Emmy Award winning, BAFTA nominated engineer Guus Hoevenaars (Woodes, Scissor Sisters) in Melbourne, as well as their ‘fifth Beatle’ and grammy winning engineer Eddie Spear (Brandi, Carlile, Chris Stapleton) on mixing and mastering out of his Nashville studio, Reveries is a product of the band harnessing their natural dynamic talent and diving into the music that they’ve always loved and thrived upon.
With the energy and memories of Juveniles very much in their minds, the band approached the Reveries sessions in a way that enabled them to unlock and access a more tender and impassioned side of the original album. A blend of Americana, gypsy swing, bluegrass and even chamber-inspired moments form a new creative vision that Reveries explores. “This music is a collection of songs that were born from certain and specific emotional reflection, rumination and ponder. On Juveniles, once complete with the writing phase, it took on the form of a rich and dedicated rock and roll album; nuanced and thoroughly investigated, but didn’t originate as such. Reveries highlights those moments of inception and is an entirely alternate universe. More intimate and perhaps with more personal insight due to what is really being highlighted.” KINGSWOOD
The album features added instrumentation courtesy of Melbourne Symphony Orchestramusicians Michelle Wood (Cello) and Sarah Curro (Violin), Shane Reilly (Lap-steel Guitar), Esther Henderson (Fiddle), Steve Hornby (Double Bass) and Alex Laska’s own sister, Irena Laska (Flute).
With the release of Juveniles in March, KINGSWOOD were able to pour the experiences that marked their recent years touring internationally into an album that provided a snapshot of the band as creatives. The snapshot was defined and very much true to the sounds that they had been working with on previous releases, yet Juveniles kicked everything that made KINGSWOOD…KINGSWOOD up a notch. Fire in the bellies, the band landed back on the scene with a statement of a record.
In Reveries, KINGSWOOD strips back the layers of each song and invites the listener to become immersed in the lyricism and differing moods on offer. The richness of the original collection of material remains, yet the album provides another sonic journey that comes as a fitting release to lose yourself in, in a climate marked by craziness and relative uncertainty. “We decided to re-record the album in its entirety but this time, each song would be crafted for the sole listener. In an armchair by a fire, on a walk through the bush, to reflect our emotional states and the true essences of each song; in the hope that it would perhaps console others in the way that it has now for us. It is an album that is cinematic; let it score your day.” KINGSWOOD
Reveries is out Friday, October 23rd
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