Patience is a virtue many bands of the modern era could learn more of.
With the abundance of technology at their fingertips which makes an album process easy to digest, too many newer bands are rushing out their debut albums, eager to be heard but often not quite ready for that to happen.
It is becoming increasingly harder for bands to show restraint and trust in the process to deliver quality over quantity, and many are hurting their careers in the early stages because of it.
Not so New Zealand rock outfit Curlys Jewels who have spent a decade refining their sound and harnessing their creative output into a body of songs that exemplifies the band and their sound.
Curlys Jewels take the first step towards next year’s album with the release of their thundering new single Criminal on November 11 before a planned series of singles leading up to an early 2023 release. HEAVY caught up with vocalist Jel and guitarist Aaron Ludlow earlier this week to discuss Criminal and their planned assault on the global music industry.
“Criminal was recorded at The Lab in Auckland,” Jel began. “Aaron and I normally do the bones of the song, and then we throw it at the lads and they sprinkle their magic dust on it, then it becomes a song. This started the same way. It’s about people having their past stuff – like we all do, we’ve got little bags of lovely stuff that we all carry around – and sometimes how that doesn’t really get cleaned up the way it should before we carry on with our lives. That’s kind of the jam, but it’s metaphorical. You can take what you like (laughs).”
“We like that heavy music, obviously, but one of the main influences that we’ve had has been the 90s grunge thing,” Ludlow added. “We started off with that main riff, which had a Pearl Jam kind of vibe, and then we like to bring the songs down into the verses and have them chilled for Jel’s vocals to really push through. We were lucky enough to have our producer, who has worked with Manic Street Preachers and Bullet For My Valentine, and is a great percussionist and he put in some cool percussion – belly dancing kind of stuff – which was really cool. He helped us craft the song, but at the end of the day, whatever comes out, comes out.”
“We don’t really try to be anything specific, either,” Jel interjected. “It’s just Curlys thing that comes together. Most of the time (laughs).”
In the full interview, Jel and Aaron talk more about Criminal, what to expect from it, the accompanying lyric video and how it drives home the message, next year’s debut album and the songs on it, taking their time with putting it out, live shows and more.
