DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
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Waves
Saturday, December 29
Tickets: moshtix.com.au
Dead Letter Circus vocalist Kim Benzie doesn't hesitate when asked his New Year's resolution.
"To never take three years to record an album again," he laughs.
But there's good reason for the album's delay.
In the space of a few months, the alternative rock band from Brisbane has toured the United States and last month performed at a cultural festival in India.
What they experienced in the US and India has provided plenty of inspiration for new songs.
"It [India] absolutely blew us away - there were about 3000 people and they were all sober but they were going crazy," Benzie says.
"We came back really inspired."
So the four-piece couldn't help but ask for a third and "final" extension to finish their album.
Touring the US was a test of stamina for the four-piece.
"It was full-on survival mode," Benzie says.
"It was like a gig every night and then travelling in the van for eight hours to do the next gig."
Benzie hints that the new album will be "a bit more raw and heavier" then their previous music.
"Rather than go middle of the road and get the money shot, we're about writing something that we want to hear, even if it means that we'll end up working in Liquorland next year," he says.
"Everything was an experiment up until this point and now we have more confidence.
"With the current state of music, the world doesn't need yet another middle-of-the-road, boring-arse rock band.
"We've also changed our lives a lot - we've gone from hanging out in Brisbane to seeing a lot more of the bigger picture."
Benzie is referring to the band's awareness of big issues, such as the risks of coal seam gas.
The band started raising awareness about mining after visiting South America.
"We went to Peru and the Amazon and we saw the mining companies destroying the land," Benzie says.
"They're buying up from indigenous land owners and putting in wells, destroying the Amazon, which is the heart of the earth."
Such experiences prompted the group to complete the No Fracking Way Tour last year, opposing coal seam gas mining in Australia.
"It's kind of embarrassing it's even an issue," he says.