ARTISTS TO WATCH IN 2013: Collarbones

People say that long distance relationships just don’t work, well in most cases those people would be right however, those people haven’t met COLLARBONES.

Their Facebook description says they’re genre is “long-distance teen pop”, and it is mostly right. In Sydney resides Marcus Whale who sends his track ideas through to Adelaide resident Travis Cook, who then sends it back to Sydney, so on and so forth. COLLARBONES can be picked out of a crowd with incredible ease as both members tend to dress quite loudly, with bright colours absolutely everywhere. COLLARBONES are an act to watch in 2013 and so, here I shall introduce you to the eccentric-ly dressed COLLARBONES.

In 2006, COLLARBONES did not exist. Marcus Whale was known as Scissor Lock, and Travis Cook was Cyat Imapled. In late 2007, the boys merged their musical talents over the internet (like most teens do these days), and were soon circulating songs on blogs, and Sydney and Melbourne community radio under the name COLLARBONES.

In 2009, COLLARBONES released their first EP Waiting For The Ghosts. The 5-track EP features a blend of pop sounds that come from a variety of sources. The title track is a prime example of how COLLARBONES create their own unique sound with the help of everything under the sun. ‘Waiting For Ghosts’ uses samples from BJORK’s Vespertine album although, they have been distorted with a variety of synths to become almost unrecognizable.

After their EP was released, the boys kept on swapping sounds, and then in early 2010 COLLARBONES received a Soundclash grant from the Australia Council. This could have been used for a variety of things, however COLLARBONES decided to use it to release their single ‘Kill Off The Vowels’. The track was set to be released on their first album Iconography.

Produced by Cook and Whale themselves, Iconography is a fitting debut with 11 tracks of pure confidence presented with diverse mixes originating from a variety of sources. RnB hooks flow throughout the album that have been placed over electronic soundscapes making a sound that is foreign to most music lovers (you know, the mainstream kids).

2011 was spent touring around Australia either headlining their own shows or playing with BATHS and  DAEDELUS and other electronic acts. COLLARBONES have made their fair share of appearances at local festivals including the Brisbane Festival in mid-2012, and now with their second album Die Young out now, COLLARBONES have definitely made their mark on the Australian music scene.

Die Young was released in September and the Australian said, “what we have here is an original and compelling take on pop music viewed through the lenses of electronica, R&B and hip-hop,” giving it a lot of praise, and a lot of public attention. Die Young is again full of tracks that have been found, pulled apart, and then stuck back together, like a collage of sounds that only COLLARBONES can create. The LP was a step-up from Iconography and let COLLARBONES show the world who they are and what they can really do.

COLLARBONES have a list of tours line-up for 2013 including support slots for CLUBFEET throughout February. Keep an eye out for these guys because I can tell that COLLARBONES will knock your socks off, if of course, they haven’t already.

Words by Lauren Payne