“Let’s make history!” Not a bad line from Drown This City vocalist Alex Reade, given their flooring new release, Alpha // Survivor.
The second offering from the Melbourne outfit is an incredibly personal chronical told through nu-metal breakdowns, hardcore vocals and rabid rhythms.
It’s epically honest, and Drown This City wanted it to be relatable not only among themselves, but with their fans, too. “The writing process was really weird,” begins Reade. “I’m glad it has the feeling of being cohesive, like a meaningful output message.
“The music was written in three stages – we had old melodic demos, and a new songwriter, and our new guitarist, Josh [Renjen], and obviously I wrote the vocals. It’s funny, it was such a long process and so disjointed but somehow, it just worked.”
What eventuated despite initial doubt and confusion was something with a seamless connection. Drown This City tried very hard to be relatable, Reade wanting to write catchy things. “I may not be the best songwriter or the best vocalist, but in everything I do, I just want people to have it stuck in their heads.
“If you can’t get it out of your [own] head, I think you’ve achieved what you need to in writing a song.”
As a band, as a singer, as a performer, Reade has pride in the band’s efforts. “We had time on this one,” she says. “We had time to sit back and say, ‘Do we love it? Yeah, we do’, and I think having time can only be a good thing.
Taking the new album out on the road, Drown This City will play the Colonial Hotel this weekend – Reade is actually speaking from the rehearsal room, though she’s kicked the boys out mid-setup so she can share her excitement for them finally hitting the stage again. March was the last time Drown This City performed live, a period all too long in Reade’s book, so these upcoming shows come with an equal amount of excitement and apprehension.
“Sydney next week and Brisbane the week after,” she says. “And we are pretty going to rehearse the shit out of these because we’re going to play every single song on this EP for all these sets.
“It’s so good when you play new music, especially when you’ve played the same shit for so many years – it’s gonna be so good, I’m so happy.”
It’s been four months since their last live show but Reade agrees that Drown This City needed that break to produce this EP, so they’d be able to fulfil the vision they have for themselves. “I do prefer to compartmentalise the things we do in the band,” she says. “I don’t think that’s something we’ll have the liberty of doing as we get busier – and hopefully we will get busier – but I love taking time off performing to write, then I love putting that to the side and focusing on performance and whatever else we need to smash out.
“I think it’s always good, while we have the liberty of time, to relax and have fun.
“The minute we get back on stage, though, it’ll be like, ‘I just want to do this forever’. I won’t wanna go to work the next morning, I’ll just want to get on a plane and go play everywhere we can.”
You never know, with that attitude, this time next year Drown This City might have forged the hype to be playing festivals worldwide. “That is the ultimate goal. Honestly, that’s all I want … I want to wake in Europe on a disgusting tour bus with my best friends and be like, ‘Holy shit! Where are we? What is this life?’ That’s all I want.”
Drown This City’s new EP, Alpha // Survivor, is out now via UNFD. They’ll be launching it at The Colonial Hotel on Friday July 19. Grab your ticks via the UNFD website.
