Dear Plastic
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Dear Plastic

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“Your physiology changes with the seasons, and it’s impossible for your brain to ignore it,” she says. “The weather can have a big impact on the mood of the music you want to write. On the other hand, there are certain themes I’m always drawn to, no matter what’s happening around me. So some things never change. You could put me on Mars, and I would still want to write a song about how sea creatures evolved spiny parts, or about murders.”

Overwinter doesn’t deal with murders, but it’s a fairly bleak look at the paradox of searching for meaning in a world that’s fundamentally apathetic. The song is rooted in a simmering fuzzy bass groove, over which Baccini’s gentle vocal melancholy forms an engaging contrast. Throughout, the song seems on the verge of eruption, but the outburst never fully transpires, which compounds the overall tension. The climatic equivalent would be a day cloaked in heavy thunderclouds, with the occasional glimmer of sunshine poking through. It keeps you on edge, at all times anticipating the storm’s arrival.

“We like making people feel uncomfortable for prolonged periods,” Baccini says. “Withholding the eruption leaves you with this great itchy feeling. I think that kind of tension was especially right for that song, because it’s all about dissatisfaction and searching for answers while life just creeps on around you without a care. The creeping is an essential element.”

Overwinter is the fourth single taken from Dear Plastic’s The Thieves Are Babes LP. The record landed last October, and to coincide with next weekend’s gig, they’re re-releasing it on red double vinyl. Nine months on from the album’s release, Baccini’s perspective has significantly altered.

“The love-hate I have felt for that album is so strange and intense,” she says. “It’s a lot easier to feel at peace with it now than it was when it first came out. In the final throes of its creation, I was furious with it, and embarrassed. I wanted to change everything. I finally realise that no one else will ever hear it the same way I do anyway. A bit of nostalgia helps soothe the regret-rage, too.”

Right now, it’s all about moving forward for Dear Plastic. The Overwinter launch gig will feature visuals from Melbourne-based video installation artist Keith Deverell. Along with adding an extra dimension to the band’s performance, Deverell’s visuals tie in with the Gertrude Street Projection Festival, which kicks off on the same night.

“I’m really excited,” says Baccini. “It’s the first time we’ve invited a visual artist to integrate their work into our live show. Keith’s work is really dark and visceral, it fits so perfectly with the music.”

As if one festival wasn’t enough, Dear Plastic’s gig is also part of this year’s Leaps & Bounds Festival. Leaps & Bounds is a jam-packed few weeks of live music around the City of Yarra. It’s a pretty fertile region year-round, and the opportunity to play so frequently in their hometown has been greatly beneficial for Dear Plastic.

“Despite our terrible personalities, we’ve been lucky enough to merge with a lovely and supportive community of musicians who share our ethos, and we all fuel one another,” Baccini says. “Plus, becoming familiar with the venues, the bookers, the bands and the punters in a particular area helps you to feel at home, and quells the stage nerves.”

BY AUGUSTUS WELBY