City Calm Down
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City Calm Down

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Ahead of the release of their EP, Movements, local four-piece City Calm Down is starting to feel the nerves set in. Recently signed to tastemaker label I Oh You, vocalist Jack Bourke sounds relaxed enough as he’s reached on the phone. He admits that while the band is beginning to understand the task at hand, they’ve been through it before.

“We’re trying to get a continuous feel through rehearsing,” he says in earnest. “If nerves are going to play a factor, they’re going to creep up a few days before the show. But we’ve been playing together long enough that we’re familiar with each other and familiar with what’s going to happen onstage. There might be a bit more pressure to nail one, but I hope that on the night that’ll wash over a bit and we’ll get back to just playing, as we have for years now.”

The fact that Bourke mentions the band’s history twice is rather telling; City Calm Down is no upstart act, being forced to find their live footing in front of an expectant crowd. Instead, Movements showcases an electronically-infused act quickly ascending with noted confidence and maturity. City Calm Down have spent the last three years crafting Movements, the result being one of the more alarmingly dense EPs in recent memory.

For a band like City Calm Down, who pay such detail to their intricate arrangements, ensuring Movements sounded as they’d hoped was an uphill battle. Bourke gives credit where it’s due, deferring to producer Malcolm Besley. Having worked with Gold Fields and Snakadaktal in the past, Besley’s influence on the band cannot be understated.

“I was saying to Malcolm the other day that in listening to the EP, it ended up sounding exactly how I wanted it to sound,” says Bourke. “It can be easy to get lost in our sound and our songs, but that was one of the great things about working with Malcolm, who’s got so much experience. We had all the songs ready and all our ideas in place, but Malcolm really helped us deliver it,” he continues. “And that was the first time I’ve had that experience.”

Having self-produced an EP previously as well as a single earlier in the year, it’s clear Bourke and City Calm Down appreciate the experience of working with Besley as one that altered the course of the band.

“If you look through music history, there’s always someone in the background who might not get all kinds of awards and recognition, and I think Malcolm’s one of those guys,” he laughs. “Just in getting the right feel for the EP, he was so influential,” he continues. “You can have all the right songs, but if you don’t have the right person giving you advice whether you’re just going over the top and trying to fit too much in, which we have a tendency to do, you’re lost. We can get lost in our songs sometimes.”

Though Movements is only six tracks in length, there’s a depth within each of the tracks. And as such, the four and a half minutes of stay pull listeners into a lull that feels much longer. Movements builds with the aforementioned maturity, though it could very well be the band’s restraint which speaks loudest. When Bourke is asked if it was the goal of City Calm Down to push their songs as far as possible to attain this wealth of sonic dexterity, he’s steadfast that the band knew when to say when.

“The songs just tend to end up there. They’ll usually start off with an idea, and everyone has to get engaged with the idea for the song to continue,” he says.

“You just use that little push, and the next thing you know, there’s a gradual crescendo, but we’re definitely not aiming for a certain result.”

Still open to possibilities and aware the amount of work it takes to produce a meaningful release, the three years City Calm Down has spent preparing for their release show have been kind. They can only hope the future will be as kind.

“We’d like (Movements) to be well-received. I would like to think that we’re progressing as a band,” says Bourke. “I find it hard to gauge if we’re pushing boundaries, because I try not to get too caught up in that. If you’re doing something you’ve done before, you start to become more confident. We’ve matured in our sound as well, I think. There’s more warmth and clarity in our songwriting.”

BY JOSHUA KLOKE