“Lyrically, it came from the idea of being told that you’ve got to get out of the place you’ve lived in,” explains Cartwright. “Not so much being kicked out, but knowing that things are about to change. That actually what happened to me at the time – I was told that I had to move out of my house where I had been living for ten years. The landlords had planned to have their kids move in so that whole idea of change coming over the horizon played a big part in what the album turned into. At the same time, I guess it’s also about looking towards the future. I just felt like I was standing there and looking back into the past and what I’d known before, and at the same time I was looking forward and noticing the city. I think Sun is the most atmospheric record we’ve done, it’s both forest and city-themed.”
It’s also a hell of a lot more subtle than the band’s breakthrough album My Volcano, which Richard In Your Mind released last year to rave reviews, including a nomination for the AMP. It was a career-defining moment for the Sydney five-piece, according to the frontman, and perhaps most importantly, made Cartwright feel officially a part of the Australian music scene.
“I think that was the biggest significance for me and for the band,” he says of the nomination. “The great thing about My Volcano last year was that we not only did some amazing tours like the Cloud Control one, but in a broad sense, we felt like we were finally becoming a part of Australian music. That’s always been one of our aims so that’s definitely been a highlight so far. I think a part of its success was that it was quite poppy and maybe that created a really good atmosphere. My Volcano had this strange, dangerous, jungle-inspired theme. You could almost call it a concept album. From the start, even before we had the album title figured out, we’d wanted it to sound like a deserted island which has aspects of fun but also danger. Kind of like fun in the sun but also a tribe of cannibalistic pigmies hiding behind the trees! Conrad [Richters, bass] loves the TV show Lost, so yeah, sort of like that! I’ve personally never watched it, but I’ve heard all about it – so maybe it’s time I checked it out!”
It was the band’s most cohesive effort so far, as Cartwright agrees, but third album Sun is definitely the most atmospheric and experimental for Richard In Your Mind. Finally, as the singer adds, he’s got his dream ‘Crosby Stills Nash & Young’ line-up in order, too!
“Most of the feedback has been great about this record,” Cartwright says. “Some people have really loved it, other people have said that maybe it’s not as ‘immediate’ as My Volcano, though, and that’s okay because I kind of agree. It wasn’t meant to be a repeat. At the same time, when My Volcano came out, some people were also saying that it’s a little bit too much all over the shop. Sun is just a very classy album, in retrospect. Another really great thing that’s happened with this album is that Alex, who recorded and sang with us on this album, has now also become an official member of the band. That’s been a wonderful thing to happen because I’ve always wanted to have that Crosby Stills Nash And Young type of harmony-section thing happening! Just having a new member will make a big impact. I don’t think it would change our musical direction wildly or anything, but I think it will make it for the better. It’s exciting because it’s still very new and we haven’t really even tapped into the potential of having a new lineup. Alex has such a lovely voice and is such a talent, so it’s a very exciting time for us.”
According to Cartwright, in keeping with the current album title and all, the next record just may be the Moon EP. Considering getting even more ambient, the singer says the band is currently literally being flooded by ideas that will hopefully see the light of day soon.
“Next year is going to be a really big one for us,” he says. “I’m not sure whether we’ll do a full album but we’ll have at least an EP next year. We’ve got heaps of material and ideas and we’ve vaguely sketched it out. We’ve now done the Sun record so we’re thinking about maybe doing the Moon EP. It could get even more ambient, you never know. At this stage, I just feel like we’ve done the ‘silly’ album, with our first one, then we did the ‘poppy’ album with My Volcano, and now we’ve done the ‘atmospheric’ one [ with Sun]. Not that they’re all wildly different or anything, but you can definitely spot the stages of our evolution and the changes that we’ve gone through. Just having a new member in the band now, I think that’s going to contribute to a fairly different-sounding album next time.”
