Getting to Know...
Post Louis.
Art-rock indie five-piece Post Louis have just released their debut album Descender. A colossal stride forward, following on from their early EPs This Could Be a Bridge and Uptight, the band have spent every spare moment outside of their diverse day-jobs experimenting, honing, and pushing the boundaries of their creative capabilities to construct their kaleidoscopic debut album.
Through the twelve tracks, Post Louis embark on a journey of self-discovery and experimentation. Scattered French horns, harp, strings, clarinet and electronics give each of the twelve songs their individual colour. Never settling, always progressing and continually surprising, they create a whole other world for art-rock to live in.
We had a chat with Stephanie Davin all about Descender. Read the Q&A and stream the new abum below.
You have just released your debut album Descender. What is the record about and how does it differ from your two previous EPs?
"The record stems from thinking about love and labour. I wanted to write about the churn and confusion of working through the day and the night and then back into the daylight, and what this does to one’s mind, body and relationships. I don’t think people talk about labour enough in pop music.
"A few years ago we went on a short European tour supporting Porcelain Raft. The day after I got back, I headed through the glass double glass doors of a massive office block to start a new job. It was a shock... I worked incredibly long hours in that place, often well into the night, calculating figures and writing emails at the heart of the corporate machine. The closing track of the album touches on some of this.
"The record also involves examining how women fit into relationships of love or labour. The first track is called ‘Fishwife’, which is a kind of early modern term for an outspoken or vulgar women. That should give you an idea of what I’m going for.
“In terms of how it’s different… With this album it feels like we have settled on an aesthetic. I think it’s a more confident statement of who we are than previous releases. Obviously it’s also much longer than the EPs - but really, it’s quite a beast at twelve tracks. Our friends joined us to play clarinet, harp, strings, synths and brass on various songs."
What was your songwriting/creative process for Descender?
"The record has been several years in the making. Robbie and I are the songwriters. To start the process, we decamped to a remote cottage in Wales a few winters ago with a looper and a Dictaphone to write.
"We brough the scrappy recordings and scribbles back to the band and started testing and deconstructing them at the Norwegian Church (Sjømannskirken) in Bermondsey. It’s our rehearsal space, as well as literally home to our rhythm section and a second home for the band. Our drummer Mattis has just built a studio there from scratch in the garage – it’s amazing."
What was your favourite part making the album? Did you learn anything new?
"We were learning all the time, in part because it is completely self-produced. We had produced all our EPs, but an album felt like a much bigger undertaking with higher stakes.
"One particularly special element was recording the strings for the title track. Robbie roped in his regular string quartet during a Sunday rehearsal in his flat and, together with Lokki (Drew from Glass Animals) they ran a joint recording session, taking turns engineering for one another. He also recorded harpist Katya Herman playing in her childhood home. I found hearing all those parts layered over each other for the first time very moving."
What do you hope fans will take away from the new LP?
"We tried not to make compromises for this record. What you hear is the culmination of years of plans and schemes which have now finally materialised. I really hope people like the sounds and the songwriting. I also hope people can feel how personal a record it is."
Finally, what's next for Post Louis? Any plans for a tour?
"We have just come off a tour supporting Max Bloom which was such fun. He and Robbie used to play together in Cajun Dance Party so the whole thing felt quite nostalgic. We don’t yet have any concrete plans to tour in 2020 but it is early days still.”
