How Thornhill are scaling new heights

Leave something cooking for too long and it burns. This is how Thornhill feel about certain aspects of their 2022 second album Heroine – in fact, ‘overcooked’ is the very word frontman Jacob Charlton uses when looking back at it. Ultimately, the era’s monochrome visuals and elaborate theatrics didn’t quite feel representative of the Melbourne quartet, its message over-reliant on the visuals in order to be understood. It was a product of almost excessive time and space in one of the most strictly locked down parts of the world during the pandemic.

“We couldn’t be face to face with each other, we couldn’t be in the same room.” Jacob remembers. “We couldn’t even be there for drum tracking.”

Guitarist Ethan McCann agrees when he jumps on Zoom with K! slightly late after rushing back from a wedding (for which he’s wearing a fetching black shirt). Even though he wasn’t here to hear some of Jacob’s thoughts, he uses similar language – “Everyone was overcooking by themselves in their bedrooms. We didn’t have each other to [snap ourselves] out of it.”

“I definitely don’t regret any of the decisions we made. We learnt endless valuable lessons from it, but I don't think we'll ever be satisfied by our discography and that's just kind of the band that we are,” adds Jacob. “I think we’re always looking forward.”

For the follow-up, the newly-released BODIES, they swung in another direction. Heroine was elongated, but BODIES was a snapshot. Where Heroine favoured languor, BODIES chose energy. “The whole concept was about capturing lightning in a bottle,” says Ethan, “because we’d never written like that.” The result is an album that’s propulsive and determined, crackling with a vivacious, renewed lease of life above an undercurrent of devilish danger. Their sense of character has evolved, but their essence remains – as does their suave attitude.

That sense of attitude has made Thornhill stand out. Within a crowded field of stony-faced musicians, it seems like they play with a flirtatious smirk on their faces. ‘Sexy’ is often the go-to descriptor. This, however, was more unconscious than anything, drawn out by their influences more so than their own characters.

“I think a lot of the elements and genres that we pull from for inspiration are within that [sexual-sounding] realm, a lot of R&B, Justin Timberlake, stuff like that,” explains Jacob. “That sort of groove, that sort of character and delivery are things that we think about, and I think, in my opinion, what makes a good band or a good singer, is to be able to sing and perform in a way that is uniquely you rather than, ‘I'm going to get onstage, play some breakdowns and get off.’ There’s so much more, in our opinion, to being a band and to showcasing music and art.”

During their process, the atmosphere comes first, then Jacob delivers his own response to what Ethan has offered him. “I still freestyle a lot of vocals in, like my recording process – I like to just press record with no ideas and see what comes out of me,” Jacob says. “Like Silver Swarm, for example, the ‘I'm blessed for that’ line – I had not written that out. There's the first and only take of it. Most of my sessions are 20 to 30 tracks of half formed mumbles and bullshit. But you get inspiration from anything, and I think as soon as you put a limit on what that is, you limit yourself. I like the idea that I can press record and scream and sing absolute drivel, and there might be some beauty within it that I can find later.”

Generally, however, there’s a murkiness to his lyrics. Jacob might know what they mean, but he won’t divulge it too easily. “I don’t like that I could cloud somebody else’s idea of what it means to them,” he explains. “I like ambiguity in lyrics, because I think [being more direct] makes it kind of about me when we’re a band and I don’t really love that. I like the idea that we are creating a mood, and we're creating an atmosphere. I hate the idea of serving lyrics on a platter. I hate when they’re obvious. Unless you’re Lily Allen, I hate when it's super realistic shit about day to day stuff. I think it's cool when people come to me telling me what they think it's about and how it affected them. I think that's the coolest part of being in a band.”

Now, the album is out of Thornhill’s hands. They’re almost happier it’s that way. They’re calmer when the weight of anticipation has been lifted from them. “It got to release day and I didn’t even stay up [to see it come out],” admits Ethan. “I was just comfortable with it happening.”

Onwards they’ll march, soon enough, but they can do so knowing they’re at peace with it all, satisfied with what they made. “We were friends before we were band members and that’s how we've operated together,” he continues. “I think that's why we had so much fun writing this record, especially because it's the best place we've been as a four. It’s probably the most connected we've felt. It all came together really naturally.”

BODIES is out now via UNFD

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