It is Long Player time for former Triple J Unearthed winners The Cairos. Called Dream of Reason, the title is taken from a painting lead singer Alistar Richardson loves, says drummer Jacob Trotter.
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The name “is [originally] in Spanish, so the translation is a bit loose,” Trotter says. “Ali saw it while we were writing the album and it really sits with a lot of the themes of the songs. And he couldn’t shake that idea from his head, so it ended up being the album title.”
Released through their label Island Records, with themes of obsession, desire and fear of madness, “I think it’s funny, because we’re not particularly dark guys at all, we’re pretty light-hearted,” Trotter says. “But I think there were a lot of songs, the way they were coming out at that time, that kind of had those themes.”
Putting some of the introspection down to the lads hitting their mid 20s, a time where many of their peers are settling into careers, “It’s a bit scary to still be doing music,” he says. “You think about that.”
Following E.P. Colours Like Features, for this album the band were not short of material. “We wrote for ages and ages” and had “well over 100 songs that were finished and demoed” before heading into the studio, Trotter says. “We wanted the album to be a bit more coherent, and have a theme behind it,” he says. “[It’s] not a concept album or anything, but it definitely has themes run through the whole thing. And I think when you listen to the album from start to finish it is a lot more coherent.”
With tracks Obsession and Desire already released, to produce Dream of Reason the band brought in the production know-how of Nick DiDia , who has worked with people like Rage Against the Machine, Karnivool and Powderfinger.
An “amazing guy to work with”, Trotter says DiDia played a strong role in shaping the album, and had the right interpersonal skills to make it all happen in a harmonious fashion. “He really guides you in what you need to do, and tells you what he wants you to hear, but at the same time isn’t abrasive. He doesn’t get you offside.” A little daunting to be in the studio with someone of DiDia's calibre, “it was really helpful for all of us,” Trotter says. “He’s worked with all these amazing artists that we all really look up to and respect.”
Having just come off an Australian tour with indie pop lovers the Holidays, at the time of interview the band were about to take off to play a run of shows in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. It is territory they are familiar with, having played Singapore and Hanoi last year, where they found a swag of unexpected fans.
“It was so bizarre,” Trotter says. “The story goes that we rocked up in Singapore and these fans were there with animal masks. We’d done a video clip with animal masks [for 2012 track We All Buy Stars], and they’d brought them along for us to sign. We just thought it was so bizarre.”
“I guess, with the internet age, if they see that we’re playing from our name on a poster, they can go home and watch our videos and figure out what the band is all about. It’s pretty crazy, to think you can get there for the first time and already have people know your music.”
The Cairos are touring now with China’s Nova Heart.
THE CAIROS
With: Nova Heart
Where: Transit Bar
When: Friday, June 20
Tickets: $20.50 from moshtix.com.au and cairosnovaheart.oztix.com.au
