In the middle of last winter Zombeaches took over the rickety old shed on the foreshore at Pt. Leo Boat Club and recorded their debut album, Cheers to the Future.
Produced and mixed by Australian producer Mikey Young Cheers to the Future marks both a triumph of James Young’s laconic approach to making records and a transformation in style for The Zombeaches.Before a celebrated live act to a band that has found cohesion in the confines of the studio and created a work that swallows you up in melody and story.
What’s most surprising about Cheers to the Future is that behind the dense walls of guitars and drums played beautifully loose and bravado and clashing sequences - is a collection of vocal performances turned down low telling stories of optimism. James Young - the band’s front man and quietly spoken lyricist - shares lessons from 24 months of adversity.
“In the few years while writing these songs I went through things I hadn’t experienced before,” says Young, in the room where he tracked vocals. “Friends and family passing away, family members being really sick. I saw everything I knew get pulled away.”
The remarkable thing about this record is that it doesn’t sound like it’s written by someone in the throes of a tragic life turn - but rather someone who's out the other side. You don’t hear suffering, you hear someone who’s been able to transcend suffering, learn from it, and live to tell the tale.
It’s not what you’d expect from a band whose taken all before it in festival and headline shows around Australia and Indonesia over the past few years. From headline shows at Tote (main stage), Night Cat, Cherry Bar, The Gaso and Cherry Rock Festival. Their shows are always sold out. Zombeaches are celebrated for a live performance that whisks everyone into the present. It’s loose, it’s tongue in cheek. It’s powerful. It brings together groups of friends who want to throw any sense of deep emotion and dance in frenzied reverence.
