Vacations will be touring their fourth album, Pursuit of Anything, in Australia throughout July.
Vacations have achieved a lot in their career so far, and the price of that looked a lot like burnout.
The band needed a break before the arrival of their fourth album, Pursuit of Anything, the follow-up to 2024’s No Place Like Home.
Beat caught up with frontman Campbell Burns to learn why and whether the group are revitalised enough to pick up another hectic schedule.
Vacations
- July 16 — The Triffid, Brisbane
- July 17 — 170 Russell, Melbourne
- July 18 — Metro Theatre, Sydney
- July 19 — The Act at Earp Distillery, Newcastle
- Tickets here
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“I would refer to it as a much-needed period of rest because we had been touring non-stop since 2022 as the pandemic died down and borders opened,” explains Burns when putting a name on their hiatus.
“Nate moved to Melbourne, Jake got married, Joey also got married and had a child. We just couldn’t write the next record while we were constantly on the road touring. It just wasn’t really sustainable for us.
“We took a four-year break between Forever in Bloom and No Place Like Home and came back to a good reception, so I wasn’t really worried that our momentum would die down.
“If anything, we’re at a point now where we can take our time, and I think that’s a really beautiful place to be.”
Pursuit of Anything arrives after some very extensive touring that included performances at Kilby Block Party and London Calling, as well as the band’s own MATES festival in Los Angeles, and some appearances on American late-night TV like Jimmy Kimmel.
It’s a lot of impressive achievements for a band who are bigger internationally than they are at home (by their own description). Burns took some time to write the new album in L.A., before moving to New York and recording in his apartment during the break.
“The writing process for every album has always started from myself in my studio, wherever I happen to be in the world; then it’s just a process of refinement until everyone is happy with it, that it is the best possible representation of the band.
“I always get this feeling that there’s probably more I could have done, or there’s more songs I could have written, but that’s going to be the case with every record. So it’s good to know when to just hit pause and take a break from it as well.”
Lyrically, Pursuit of Anything focuses on the current transitional period in the band members’ lives and their coming of age.
“It’s about turning 30, my relationship with my parents, seeing my friends venture off in different paths opposite to my own,” mentions Burns.
“I tend to be very incredibly, almost in my own detriment, introspective. I like to think a lot, and I like to reflect, and I think a lot of our music is rooted in this idea of nostalgia, memories, friendship.
“I’d be writing lyrics, and then I’d realise that I wrote that lyric two albums ago. So I was kind of my own worst enemy, but that was a fun process, and I figured it out, and I know I’ll figure it out again.”
The new record is easygoing, self-confident, poppy, and refined, with Vacations sounding their most mature, experienced, and even a little relaxed.
“We’ve mellowed out a lot as people,” mentions Burns, “and this record was very easy to put together as a result.”
“As I get older, I just want to get more abstract or conceptual with writing, whereas compared to when I was 18, I would just write a song and go, oh cool, I wrote a song, I’m really proud of that. I think now it’s more like, okay, what am I actually trying to do here?
“This new record is basically what I wanted to be doing when I was 20, but I didn’t necessarily have the skill set or maybe the confidence to pull it off.”
Vacations’ fourth album, Pursuit of Anything, is out now, and the band play 170 Russell on 17 July. Tickets are available now.
This article was made in partnership with Riot House.
