Surfing The Void is the name of the highly anticipated, long awaited sophomore album from New Wave UK band Klaxons.
Like their namesake, Klaxons ripped apart the London scene in 2006 with their raucous literary sound that saw them sing about Atlantis, William S. Burroughs’ legendary Interzone and even dabble in a spot of Greek mythology, all wrapped up in psychedelic New Wave guitar riffs.
Now they’re back, this time enthused by a celebration of Mayan proportions as the looming date of 2012 gets ready to rock our world to its very foundations… much like their new album.
‘It’s kind of like a more heavyweight bloated version of the first one,’ said band member Jamie Reynolds, on the phone from his London flat wearing nothing but his underpants.
‘Although it’s a bit more life affirming, lyrically I think it’s a bit more spiritual and life affirming but the way that it sounds is a bit more bloated and hairy.’
It may be a strange description to use, ‘bloated and hairy’, but in part it rings true: Surfing the Void is like a maturer version of their debut, something that has hit later puberty.
It’s a reference Reynolds himself alluded to when he makes reference to the overall sound of the album.
‘We still make sure that we’re making celebratory music so that the way we’ve evolved is that we’re still making celebratory music or music that can give that uplifting life affirming sensation.
‘We’ve taken a juvenile attempt at doing that. If we were 14 when we started we’re now 17 with a slightly more adult approach to making a celebration.’
As such, Surfing The Void is ‘a message of complete happiness and love’, one comprised of Reyonlds’ usual psychedelic sounds, a soundscape on which dense lyrics are then layered.
‘The lyrics are something that I do last. The music is there so that we create a certain atmosphere, what ever that might be with the music and then after that, first and foremost we’re very interested in a melody that will stick in your head and that will make you whistle.
‘And then the lyrics come later as things that I either come across or experience, or things that we think need to go out into the world. It doesn’t matter whether or not you understand what they mean. They’re like little puzzles.’
Since releasing their debut Myths of The Near Future, Klaxons have been touring non-stop on a schedule that has taken them all across the world, with downtime in different cities like Milan, Paris and London used to mess around in studios.
‘We toured until September last year and then we went into studios all over the world in several different places and laid tracks without the idea of making a record.
‘Then when we finally finished touring last September we decided it was time to make the record from then until this gone March. It was quite a quick process.’
One that took place largely in Los Angles under the supervision of rock legend Ross Robinson, a man responsible for reinventing the sounds of Sepultura, Slipknot, At The Drive In and The Cure.
‘That man is like the father I’ve always wanted in my life,’ Reynolds said of the time he spent with Robinson.
‘He’s a very high level working guy. He’s a very life affirming, life supporting guy that I miss dearly because I’m not with him anymore.’
Of course, rumours abound early this year that the band had been asked to rerecord the entirety of their new record, rumours which eventually proved to be just that.
‘We only recorded the record once but we have been into several different studios and messing around with tracks even without the intent of making a record at various points over the last three years,’ Reynolds explained.
‘And the music we made at that point will come out at some point. There’s nothing to hide and everything will eventually rear its head.’
Surfing The Void is out now through Universal Music.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
