“The first album was really an upbeat, folky album; it had a lot of piano accordion, violin, very acoustic sounding. They were a lot of songs that I’d written in my early twenties and I think there’s kind of an innocent optimism that you hear in that first album. The song writing has changed a little in the last few years. It’s probably more contemplative and a little bit more introspective, a little bit more of a rock influence as well.”
Van Cuylenburg explains that having a three-year gap between albums allowed him to develop his songwriting personality and when the band felt satisfied with the new material they knew it was time for album number two.
“We just wanted to take the time to get what we felt was the right balance of songs and it ended up being these 10 songs.”
Van Cuylenburg believes that the extended incubation period for the album gave The Tealeaves an opportunity to generate a diverse yet complementary sequence of songs.
“I’m a big fan of albums that don’t all sound the same. While you want it to be cohesive, we worked hard to try to have a balance of songs that would be more interesting to listen to than albums where you put it on and you do feel that sense of repetitiveness.”
The Tealeaves have entered a more downcast stylistic domain on No More Can You Be Here and Van Cuylenburg attributes the shift to a combination of their recent listening habits and some poignant life experiences.
“There were bands like Midlake, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver that really we just love and they’re bands that inspire us, but also it was due to what was going on in life. We had a few losses. I had a close friend, and a few people I was very close to, die during that time. Always those events are very influential on pushing your songwriting and the themes you think about and the different direction,” he says.
Even though the new material carries a weightier subtext than their earlier work, Van Cuylenburg indicates that the album is not a completely macabre affair.
“I wouldn’t say that these songs are depressive or anything but they are certainly more contemplative – about accepting our mortality and our place in the universe. I do think there’s still an overall optimism in our music though.”
When The Tealeaves’ recorded their first album the group had only recently been assembled by Van Cuylenburg to perform songs written solely by him. The band are now a few years into a musical relationship and the new album showcases their collective interactivity.
“I was running the show the first time around but now it’s much more collaborative and everyone pitches in. There’s two or three tracks on the album that I co-wrote with a few of the others and that’s been a great progression as well,” says Van Cuylenburg.
Having now spent plenty of time playing together, the group’s unique strengths have come into focus on No More Can You Be Here. Van Cuylenburg explains that the tint of their arrangements has altered somewhat but the songs’ core melodic component remains.
“The backing of each song varies – we’ve probably moved slightly from a more acoustic sound to a slightly more electric sound – but the harmony and melody is still priority in our songs.”
Multiple voices singing in harmony can be heard in each song on No More Can You Be Here and Van Cuylenburg admits that they actively endeavoured to emphasise their harmonic propensity.
“We made a concerted effort to really work on those harmonies and refine them. We thought it was a strength on the first album so it was quite intentional in the song writing to develop really interesting backing vocals and interweaving melodic ideas.”
The Tealeaves will launch No More Can You Be Here this weekend at the Thornbury Theatre and Van Cuylenburg gives details about the special features that will enhance their set.
“Obviously we’ll be playing all our new tracks. We will be including a throwback to the old ones as well, so there’ll be a bit of an acoustic set in the middle. We’re hoping to launch our new video clip midway through the set and bring up some guest vocalists for the last few songs. There’s a few tracks on the new album that we’ve really layered with a huge number of vocals so we’ll bring up some guest artists to join us for the last two tracks.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
