General Admission Standing Room Only

MANSIONAIR

The indie-electronic band Mansionair – vocalist Jack Froggatt, producer and multi-instrumentalist Lachlan Bostock and drummer Alex Nicholls – are back with their most accomplished and soul-searching album yet, Some Kind Of Alchemy.

It's a body of work that channels everything that fans have come to love about them: their ability to deliver authentic, energetic and uplifting anthems.

Mansionair's third album is an elevation rather than an evolution. Led by the epic Lose Yourself Again, Some Kind Of Alchemy has an arc, moving from the shadows into the light, as the band advocate self-knowledge, community and hope in a fractured age. Above all, Mansionair fully realise their potential as an electronic dance music act – recently introducing their aerodynamic DJ/live hybrid Sahā Set at an intimate Eora/Sydney hometown show. "This album really speaks to who we have been working towards as a band and what Mansionair is between the three of us; between its existence collectively," Jack says.

A decade in and Mansionair might celebrate some impressive achievements: their 2014 self-released international break-out Hold Me Down, ARIA Gold-certified hits like Easier and Astronaut (Something About Your Love), the latter of which entered Billboard's US Rock Airplay Chart, the Grammy-nominated Line Of Sight alongside Seattle's ODESZA, a buzzy appearance at Coachella behind 2019's debut Shadowboxer, plus viral collabs with superstar DJ/producers Claptone (Right Into You) and Dom Dolla (the indelible Strangers). Today they prefer to focus on the present – and progress purposefully. If anything, Some Kind Of Alchemy augurs a new era for Mansionair in their quest to reach a meridian.

Mansionair have always been expansive, the trio hailing from disparate musical backgrounds – Lachlan steeped in electronic music, Alex into jazz and Jack a singer/songwriter. However, they were determined to not overload Some Kind Of Alchemy, Alex describing their approach as a "distillation". Jack paradoxically deems the album a "micro-expansion," as exemplified by the triumphal opener Heavyweight – an old demo finally coming to fruition. In fact, Lachlan declares Heavyweight a "perfect example of this absolutely colossal sound and the experience of being human."

Ever assiduous, Mansionair started work on Some Kind Of Alchemy immediately after touring 2022's sophomore Happiness, Guaranteed. "We take our time with albums," Lachlan says. "I think we're an album band and we know it's a long process for us – and we know we live with songs for forever." He and Jack stayed in Los Angeles to write, aiming to reproduce the dopamine rush of their shows. "It was like, 'OK, let's go – let's try and bottle this energy.'"

Yet, post-pandemic, the fold craved adventures. Jack travelled to Berlin, delving into his own solo endeavours with the new project ELMAR. The others also moonlighted – Alex developing his experimental vehicle, Nothing To See Here, as Lachlan expanded his repertoire as a writer and producer, working with a host of artists across multiple genres.

"The benefit from all of us doing our side-projects is that Mansionair could really be distilled down," Alex reasons, "'cause in the past we've kind of all tried to put in all of our creative inspirations – and we all like different things.

"That meant that we could distill Mansionair down to 'Cool, this is the intention for this project – it's still gonna be Mansionair-y, but we're not gonna veer off in a million directions with Mansionair.'"

Reuniting, Mansionair committed to their own melotronica – and to each other, Some Kind Of Alchemy charting changing dynamics as the three contemplated the meaning of bonds.

"The whole album is based on how we are in relationship to other people; other places," Alex says. "We very rarely exist in isolation. It's about being in relation to other people, other places, and the smorgasbord of emotions that come along with that."

Revelling in EDM's intangible qualities, Mansionair composed instinctively – and confidently. Lachlan muses that Some Kind Of Alchemy is "a little bit of a return" to the electronic music that "initially sparked" them off sonically, joking that it's the "classic third record" route for bands. But they now have a new clarity.

Ironically, imposing "restraints" on themselves resulted in "more interesting creative exploration," Alex posits. "I think where we landed was probably even more 'Mansionair' than we set out to be as well… We kind of shot for elevated dance music. But where we landed was really good, because we still let our tendencies and Mansionair-ism really come through. We weren't chasing any kind of trends or anything. We just put on these restrictions and go, 'What would a full body of work sound like in this world?'"

Not that the cerebral Mansionair have relinquished their innate complexity on Some Kind Of Alchemy. "The sounds, and the palette, it feels really minimal, yet there's all this character and depth," Jack states. The challenge was to pen "great" songs within "the matrix of electronic production" – so the music can be danced to in a communal space but also listened to in more solo intimate moments on headphones.

The musicians' discussions remain integral to their development – as does Jack's reading, the vocalist citing David R Hawkins' epiphanic tome Letting Go: The Pathway To Surrender. "It was what I was experiencing at this time in my life; this idea of finding a sense of place – like a place to be. I'd really been wrestling with this idea of what 'home' is and who my relationships are and a sense of self-refinement to find the core of what is pushing my purpose forward."

Those insights are reflected in the lead single Lose Yourself Again. The earliest track Mansionair completed for Some Kind Of Alchemy, the clubby banger represents the beginning of an odyssey – playing off the title's simultaneously positive and negative associations. For Jack, Lose Yourself Again extols surrender.

"You wanna be embraced by your friends. You wanna be in the moment. You wanna be holding onto this thing that is tangible and real – which is this existence in this very moment.

"There's a magnetic force spoken about through this record – which is this attraction or this connection or this desire to be there for people and to be around the ones that you wanna connect with. And this song was really just like a call to let go and loosen up – have fun."

Alex admits that the process of writing can feel "a little self-indulgent and a little insular," but Some Kind Of Alchemy is an outward-looking LP. "One of the goals lyrically we'd had was to try and bring a sense of elevation and hope," Jack says. "I think there'd been a natural tendency in the past – at least that I had led to lyrically – where it was quite introspective and insecure and 'Oh, woe is me…' But I just had a real fire and excitement to talk about hope and love and place – and just a good existence."

The bandmates have their favourite songs on the project. Lachlan is fond of the synth-pop The Way You Move In Me – Jack's falsetto especially vulnerable – because it came together so easily, yet the lyrics reveal Mansionair's many layers. "We've had this conversation where, for me, it's a song about grief but, for others, it's a song about love and connection." Jack nominates the beat-driven ballad On Your Side – about the cherished "comfort" of a confidante. But paramount is Atlas – a celestial finale that Mansionair previewed at last year's Suara Festival in Bali, Indonesia. "It was one of those moments after of everyone just going like, 'What the fuck was that?'" Lachlan recalls. Alex quips that it's Mansionair "dialled up to 11."

Ultimately, Mansionair have greater lucidity – and confidence in what they signify. "We've always felt like we've lived in this world where the music is dark, but it's beautiful," Lachlan shares. "But previous songs that we've had, we've always felt like we've lived in an emotional No Man's Land. On this album we tried to honour that a little bit more and go, 'Oh, actually, the emotion we're trying to get is that sort of ineffable kind of middle ground between being devastated and being joyful.'"

Though Jack affirms that Mansionair have "big ambitions" to continue to perform globally, their main object now is to witness how, as an altruistic soundtrack, Some Kind Of Alchemy connects with audiences. "I'm just really excited to scream these songs out of the top of my lungs, 'cause I think there's a healing in that – like there's something very cathartic about being able to perfect these songs and then go and test them on the road and see their effects in a larger environment."

Links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify