It’s an overcast day in South Yarra.
You slip into an abandoned office building, past rows of bulky computers and barren cubicles. Fluorescent lights blink as you climb the echoing stairwell. Waiting at the summit? A recording studio, hidden above the wreckage. From this liminal space, Acopia carved their third album Blush Response — a record that lingers in the tension between resilience and fragility.
True to their elusive nature, Acopia’s first full-length interview didn’t unfold face-to-face but arrived in writing, delivered between shows on their European tour. Such distance feels deliberate, in harmony with the delicate restraint that makes their music so enchanting.
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Formed in 2018, the Melbourne band, made up of Kate Durman, Morgan Wright and Lachlan McGeehan, have quietly shaped a sound that sits somewhere between dream-pop, downtempo electronica and post-punk minimalism. On Blush Response, the trio beckon a new era of sonic expression and emotional clarity. Across the eight-track record, Acopia’s lyrics carry their trademark melancholia, but yield to deeper vulnerability.
“In the past, I often approached relationships in a more avoidant way,” Kate says. “Writing about that has been a way to take some accountability and reflect.”
Blade Runner fans will recognise the title — a reference to the Voight-Kampff test used to distinguish humans from droids; an index of feeling. It’s fitting imagery for a band whose music has always explored the space between emotional thresholds.
Part of the album’s ephemeral tone comes with the territory. “It sort of looked like a ’90s movie set of a washed-up office building,” Kate says of the South Yarra studio. “It had an alienating, cold atmosphere, isolated from everywhere else.”
Morgan remembers their journey through the vacant corridors like conditioning. “It created a Pavlovian-like response for our creative hive mind,” he says. This marked a shift from their 2022 debut Chances, and 2023 self-titled album, both written at home. “Having a space where the sole purpose was to write and record forced us to be much more focused, and come to the sessions with ideas to impress one another,” Morgan says. When they learned the building was set for demolition, that sense of transience seeped into the music.
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Blush Response grapples with love in decay: breakdowns in communication, unresolved feelings and the weight of words unspoken. But beneath the arc of longing is an undercurrent of endurance. It’s acutely visceral on Falter, a track Acopia call their grandest, most “anthemic” to date. Driving guitars fuel Kate’s defiant chorus: “Even if I fall/ I will never falter.”
All three members are accomplished electronic producers, but Acopia was born from a shared curiosity in the genre’s softer, ethereal corners outside the club space. Blush Response distils their seven years of refining into a voice more direct and self-assured.
“We were quicker to make decisions this time because we trusted our instincts and didn’t overthink,” Kate says. “It had also been a while since we’d written something together in person, so we came into it with a lot of energy.”
Acopia’s sonic hallmarks remain intact – airy, gossamer-like vocals, moody basslines and subtle crescendoes that build quiet intensity. But the record unfolds into something more expansive, with dense synth textures, tinkling keys and grittier rock edges. It even reveals long-hidden talents as Lachlan makes his vocal debut on the sombre duet, Let Down.
“I didn’t even know Lachie could sing,” Kate says. “I remember when he showed us the first demo and I was like, ‘Who’s singing that!?’”
“They were both immediately encouraging and interested in taking the song and working on it together,” Lachlan recalls. “Having another voice feels like another tool at our disposal.”
Their minimalism lingers, but Acopia have outgrown the “bare-bones” ethos of their early days. “When we started the project, we definitely had preconceived ideas of how we wanted the band to sound and develop,” Lachlan reflects. “As time went by, we eventually let go of those limitations and allowed ourselves to just focus on what felt right for each individual album or song.”
While Blush Response is their most forthright chapter, Acopia want to keep the project in flux. “I don’t think it’s a stagnant thing,” Kate says. “It’ll probably change, but right now it feels very us.” Morgan frames it best: “Acopia is our friendship, and what we love to do most when together is make music.”
Acopia is playing Howler on 24 October. Tickets here.
