Spacey Jane Is Onto Something: Sold-out shows, an upcoming tour, and a killer new album
Caleb Harper on here comes everybody.
Words by Lauren Walker (she/her)
Last month I sat down with Spacey Jane’s frontman Caleb Harper to talk about the band’s new album Here Comes Everybody; a title that reflects the band’s outward turn to their audience. The new record is a shift from their 2020 debut album Sunlight which sky-rocketed the Perth-born band up the charts. Their song ‘Booster Seat’ hit #2 on Triple J’s Hottest 100.
Now taking a less introspective focus, Harper says this album is not just about himself and speaks to a broader experience. “Something that Sunlight showed me was that I think a lot of people’s, and my, experiences were not nearly as unique as I thought they were.”
After the unreal successes of their debut album, released during the middle of 2020’s first Covid-19 hit, Harper began writing lyrics from a place of collective angst among Gen-Z’s. There’s a Phoebe Bridgers-esque romanticism to Harper’s lyrics. In the band’s newly released single, ‘Pulling Through’, melancholy sifts through a poetic tune. “Swimming in my head, aiding and abetting / Things I shouldn’t sweat, things that I care about / I don’t know if I can take another day / Of waking up and thinking ‘Is there a better way?’”
The band landed on a cool melody for this track, which ends the album nicely. Other tracks like ‘Bothers Me’ and ‘Not What You Paid For’ give the album an Arctic Monkeys AM vibe with a mature mix of upbeat and slower tracks. On the songwriting process, Harper mentions the band’s bassist Peppa Lane. “Peppa’s got an amazing voice... her and I workshop so many different variations of harmonies and backing vocals. We landed on that for these songs and were like, damn, that’s really cool. It’s not something we’ve really done before.”
When asked to name his favourite song off the new record, Harper didn’t hesitate to say ‘It’s Been a Long Day’, which was released as a single before the album dropped. “It took a long time to get that right. So I think the reward of it feeling complete and beautiful is extra special for us.”
So who is Spacey Jane? In their early days, the band took a lot of inspiration from Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes. Harper explains they’re now, “entering this field of like that sort of sad indie with the clean pop notes.” Similar to bands like Ocean Alley and San Cisco, but with their take on your typical Aussie indie band sound.
Returning to New Zealand was a surreal moment for Spacey Jane; their first international gig outside of Australia was played here in Wellington, and their last show before lockdown was played in Christchurch at the start of 2020. It was a “weird time”, as Harper describes it.
“When we started writing the second record it was just as lockdown sort of hit. It came from a place of anxiety, I would say, feeling so anxious about what the future of our career was and how and when we would be able to sort of continue being a band.”
“It was driven by this sense of, ok, we’ve gotta do something.”
Harper was hyped for their tour of New Zealand following a haul of shows in the UK and some
time spent chilling in the US. The singer-guitarist expressed he’s most excited about places like New York for their upcoming US tour. “ I’ve been there a little bit over the last six months and it’s such a cool city.”
“But I’m excited for New Zealand as well,” the singer added. “I’m really excited for my trip to Christchurch. It’s gonna be cool. ” Harper headed down to Christchurch for a few days before the tour with the plan to hire a van and do some exploring down South. “I’ll do some extreme sports, but nothing that I can break my wrists doing.”
The Wellington show couldn’t have started the band’s tour on a better note. Standing amongst an energetic crowd, Harper’s voice could barely be heard singing the lyrics to their hit songs ‘Booster Seat’ and ‘Feeding the Family’. The venue was crowded by an eclectic mix of surfer-looking dudes and op-shop-dressed Welly adolescents. OG fans could be heard chanting the words to newer songs, jumping and swaying with iPhone cameras held high above the crowd. Slower songs such as ‘Yet’ saw phone lights come on amid the colourful stage lights. Spacey Jane perfected the synergy of melancholy and euphoria as an unlikely combination for their own new genre of indie-rock.
“It’s music to make you feel okay about being sad,” says Harper.
Spacey Jane may be on to something. The album takes a deep dive into mental health and general coming-of-age bullshit. In a world where nothing seems to make sense anymore, it’s ok not to be ok. With smooth 4x4 drum beats and quick guitar riffs, drummer Kieran Lama and guitarist Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu make it look easy. You barely notice the weight of some lyrics. On mental health, Harper says “it’s important to not feel like there’s something wrong with you or feel like you need to change and fix yourself because really sometimes that’s not that easy. To accept yourself for who you are is really important.”
“The really resounding message of this record is to stop fighting the feeling of feeling like shit. And not being down on yourself because you don’t have it all together, and I really want people to take that away from it, and I hope that they do.”