Glasgow’s ANIMALCULES have brought a zest and excitement to the UK with their genre blending debut record Luz. We caught up with the band about how they put together their wildly catchy record.
Luz displays a blending of math rock, post hardcore and progressive emo that’s a fizzy, frantic ball of energy and is immediately engaging. “I think it just naturally happened,” Innis explains on how they found their very distinct sound. “We try to just write music we find fun and interesting and that just happened to be the sound that came from that. We all have really varied tastes between pop-punk, prog metal, video game soundtracks etc so I think our sound naturally ended up having pieces from all those influences.”
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Those influences mean the record is laced with loads of little nuggets of audible quirks, that are a delight to discover over each listen. “Definitely the bitcrush on PureJim was one of my favourites, but I love playing about with using effects in ways they’re not ‘meant’ to be used,” Jamie gladly tells us. “There’s loads of little bits of ear candy in the album that I love that I think most people wouldn’t notice but for me are some of my favourite bits.”
It’s so exciting to hear a band with this much enthusiasm for the nerdy qualities of their sounds, while still being able to tastefully implement them in a musical way. “I had the most fun writing the interludes and sound designing the intros on the album,” adds Ellis. “The turnover was very fast and rewarding since I wrote most of them the night before one show or another to give us tuning time. I’d usually start with just a bit of guitar or synths from one of the tracks and end up turning it into something that eventually would end up connecting the whole album, was pretty neat.”
Luz is a record that explodes with charismatic, spirited ideas that knit together like different coloured threads in a tapestry. They’re individual and add so much to the greater whole, while the minutia of what gives each song its entirely distinct spirit. That makes sense when considered in the parameters that ANIMALCULES have been writing in. “It was actually just a collection of songs that we had built up that felt like they worked together best,” Jamie clarifies. “The album was originally going to look very different. We had the idea of splitting our tracks up and doing a two-part album with a lighter and darker side, so hopefully you guys can expect the heavier album later this year. For now, I think we’re just glad that people are enjoying it, so I guess we’d just hope that carries on. We’re definitely excited for the part two album now we have something out to compare it to I think that makes it more interesting.”
For all it’s instrumental playfulness, the lyrics in Luz are just as catchy and intriguing. “I took a few different approaches writing the lyrics for these songs,” Ellis recounts. “A couple of them are based around a feeling I was having about something around the writing process, pseudo non-fiction in particular comes to mind as I decided I had to stop smoking for my mental health. However, a good few are just straight up fictional stories that came together as they were written. Flavour Town is basically Mean Girls.”
While the album has been a coming together in a steady writing process for many years, the recording didn’t necessarily follow suit. “The recording process was not as smooth sailing as it could have been,” Ellis agrees, “a lot of stuff needed re-tracked months into the process. Everyone’s different schedules and availability became an issue too at times and the whole process for me personally became a bit of a life absorbing experience.”
“However, the songs wouldn’t have ended up sounding as interesting as they do if we hadn’t allowed them the extra time in the oven. It was a massive learning experience and we know now what to avoid for the next one.”
As well as the records distinct sound ANIMALCULES have also procured a super novel art style for their album cover. “The original concept was a wee sketch of Oliver the mouse in his bed we had prepared as a demo for an artis,” recounts Ellis. “We had no plans for it to be pixel art until we saw Aleene’s work (@dandelion.pixelart on Instagram) and then we realised the pixel art felt perfect for the album’s style. Aleene also added a whole new colour scheme and aesthetic that just felt way better than we could have hoped and also even made us an animation that gave it even more life for our canvas. Honestly such a talented artist, check them out, we hope to do more work with them soon.”
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