Any artist of this ilk is liable to scare away audiences who are used to things they can straightaway understand. Meanwhile, Callinan’s 2013 debut, Embracism, contained a select number of songs (such as Victoria M. and Landslide) that were reasonably immediate. It’s a quality shared by his brand new single The Teacher – the first taste of his forthcoming second album. The Teacher is a slinky jazz ballad that unfurls a mournful, if slightly perverse, narrative. Although hardly a recipe for pop superstardom, the single seems certain to expand Callinan’s burgeoning global following.
“I’m not trying to ever alienate people,” he says. “I understand, though, that I do that. In an ideal world I’d love for everybody to love me and to be the biggest artist in the universe. But I guess I don’t want to compromise. I want to like my music as well, and for me to like it I feel like it does need to be singular. I can’t help it. It’s not like I’m trying to be difficult or challenging or weird, or even trying to be original. I’ve tried to do the opposite – I’ve tried to make really straight dance music, just for my own entertainment. But whatever I do it always just comes off a little bit weird. I’m not entirely sure why.”
It’s over two years since Embracism was released. While plenty of people were familiar Callinan prior to the album – if not through his notorious solo shows, then courtesy of his central role in Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders and earlier work in Mercy Arms – since its release listeners have developed a clearer understanding of his artistic personality. He’s well positioned to make a bigger impact with his second album, but he didn’t feel pressure to appeal to a broader demographic.
“As far as record labels go, they want to sell records. If they don’t start selling records then they’ll stop giving me money,” he says. “For me it doesn’t really matter. I just want to keep making music that excites me and confuses me – and excites and confuses other people as well.
“This record feels, in many ways, to be the exact same record as Embracism. I don’t think anyone else thinks that, but for me it feels like the same record, just a more extreme version. And that’s all I’m trying to do – be the most heightened, exciting and confusing version of myself.”
Deeming the forthcoming record – which is due in the early months of 2016 – the same as Embracism shouldn’t suggest Callinan felt so satisfied with the first record he’s simply copied and pasted its core ideas into a follow-up.
“I guess I had a clearer idea of what I wanted to make, so I’ve done it with a bit more focus,” he says. “Embracism was really making it up as it went along, with Kim [Moyes, producer]. That said, this one’s the same thing in that regard. I mean, it’s the same record; it comes from the same place. But it also stylistically has nothing to do with Embracism. Music’s about the process for me, it’s not about the style or genre or anything like that. It’s about personality and it’s expressive. One comment about Embracism was that it jumped around stylistically, and I felt it was a strength that it could do that and still retain a flow and a world. So I’m trying to do that again.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
