Battles

Tue 28th Jun, 2011 in Features

Battles are a band that you may not have heard in a while, after all, it’s been over four years since their full-length debut Mirrorred was released. It received critical acclaim, finishing on best of lists for not only the year, but of the 00s. Last year, Tyondai Braxton announced he was leaving the band to focus on a solo career, leaving Battles as a three piece and raising questions about their future.

They eventually decided not to replace Braxton, opting to continue instead as a three piece – Ian Williams, Dave Konopka and drummer John Stanier, with his crazy high cymbal. (Of that arm stretching cymbal placement Konopka explains that “There’s no rhyme or reason to it, it started as a joke, it’s become our of flag of some sort, it’s cool. It’s definitely gimmicky, he’s got these long ass arms though, so it totally works!”)

The band’s second album Gloss Drop was finally released earlier this month , receiving generally positive reviews, and helping to relaunch them back into the public imagination. The second record is usually regarded as being significantly more difficult than the debut, couple this with a four year break between albums, and you’ve got a recipe for intense pressure. “We felt under pressure with the new album – it took us a while to get the ball rolling,” admits Dave Konopka, “we went through a lot of stupid shit, we’re definitely invested into this one.”

But how did the absence of Braxton alter the process for creating Gloss Drop? The departure of Braxton was a question that the band themselves mulled over. “Do we get another person? Eventually we decided, fuck it – we’ve got this,” Konopka says. “Figuring out how it was going to work was one of the most rewarding decisions that we’ve ever made. It would have sucked to just replace Ty with some dude that would have drawn comparisons to him… Whilst it was unfortunate that Ty left, it gave us the drive to rise to the occasion to make a better album… we had to up the ante and make up for that sonic space that Ty left behind”

When asked how has their sound changed as a three piece, Konopka makes a local comparison, which surprisingly outs him as one of the few people in the world who actually remembers Corey Delaney – ” Mirrored was like Paul Hogan – it’s not an album, mate, THIS is an album. Whereas Glass Drop is more like Corey [Delany]. It’s a way more lighthearted feeling album, it’s more playful, more adventurous and less pretentious… Mirrored was like, hey check us out we can be a math band, or cinematic, or moody and dark, or funny and quirky… Gloss Drop is what we want to do now, this is what is important to us, we’re emotionally invested.”

Battles haven’t played in Australia since mid 2009, when they performed at the Sydney Opera House, and Konopka’s memories of Corey are surely an indicator they’d enjoyed themselves, so when do they plan to head back? “We’re working on coming back. I’m not sure when though or which festival, probably towards the end of the year, or super early 2012”.