Dunedin DIY pop musician Jack Brosnahan is finally set to follow up his debut EP under the Yesses moniker later this month.
The EP, which came out last year, was packed with meticulous arrangements and lush, longing pop songs.
And while Brosnahan had vaguely intended its follow-up to be a post-punk exploration in the vein of Slint meets My Bloody Valentine, the album is another stellar collection of pop singles.
The album, Fixated, was recorded while Brosnahan spent seven months living overseas in 2015, first basing himself in Yellowknife, Canada, before exploring Europe.
"I recorded the album in a few days in Hamburg,'' Brosnahan said.
"I went to Canada, to the Northwest Territories, but like a month after I got there my visa got denied, so I couldn't work. Which was kind of cool, 'cause it meant I just sat around and recorded music, but it was very limiting 'cause it was very expensive to live there.
"So instead I just sat in my room, and got involved playing music with my friend Ike ... and we made some very rushed music.
"It was a really interesting place; hardly anyone in Yellowknife is actually from Yellowknife. Everyone just comes in and then leaves after a while. The music scene was very small. There was like five bands, and I played in one of the big bands for a bit on bass.
"Then I went to Europe and when my brother's flatmate went away, I sat in his room and recorded my album.''
While he'd describe his subject matter as still the same, Brosnahan said travelling solo impacted on the new LP.
"The main difference this time was that I actually had a goal in mind. With the EP, I was just recording songs ... and eventually it turned into an EP. It is still pretty similar though,'' he said, laughing.
"I think it was kind of affected by being alone. I was pretty much by myself the whole time. The album is way more dry, I didn't fill it with as much sunshine effects. The most direct effect in music making was definitely isolation.''
Opener She's is probably the best example of this.
It's more angular than anything else in the Yesses catalogue; a dark, ominous verse that could have come from a Mavis Gary tune, building and undulating underneath Brosnahan's voice.
There's a bit less sugar, but there's no less wonder to be found.
New Town, New Supermarket also calls to mind the dislocating weirdness, and profound difference and sameness of a young person living overseas for the first time, nodding its head to the Clash in the process: the same old routines surrounded by all unfamiliar faces.
Brosnahan and his band play the Attic next week.
FREE WORKSHOPS
Port Chalmers' Anteroom is offering a series of free electronics workshops this month and next, providing the public with a chance to explore sonic possibilities by turning an old toy or walkie-talkie into a sound object, building a basic oscillator and making a radio transmitter.
Called BYO Battery, the free workshops introduce hacking and circuit-bending practices, with no experience needed.
The gig
• Yesses Fixated album release show, Friday June 17, at the Attic, George St, with Repulsive Woman, Tongueflower and Koizilla, 8.30pm doors. $5 on the door. All ages (no alcohol on premises please). Fixated is available as a digital download (yesses.bandcamp.com) or on cassette via Free Kittens Records
• Bookings for BYO Battery can be made at anteroomprojectspace @gmail.com or visit the Anteroom's Facebook page for more details: www.facebook.com/groups/anteroom/
