hmv.com sat down with the band Moreish Idols to discuss their new album...
Moreish Idols’ sound has constantly evolved, blending post-punk energy with richer songwriting and bold experimentation. With All In The Game, they’ve found a balance between raw storytelling and immersive production, pushing boundaries while staying true to their identity. Here, they discuss their creative journey, the personal themes behind the album, and the unconventional techniques that shaped it.
How has your sound developed from your earlier releases to this new chapter of your work? Did you consciously aim for a different tone or mood this time around?
When we first signed to Speedy Wunderground we were enamoured by the buzzy Windmill scene that was taking over at the time. That sound was contagious not only for us but for everyone around us, so it was kind
of inevitable that we were exploring the more heavy post-punk sound. By the time we got to the second EP we found our feet and were expanding our songwriting, exploring deeper meaning and structures, drawing from influences like Wilco and Pavement and focusing more on the instrumentation as opposed to the more animated production the we were experimenting with in the first EP.
With All In The Game, we aimed to draw out the best of both EPs, by framing more insightful memories and stories within an immersive space, allowing the production to accommodate the narrative when necessary as
opposed to relying on it solely. Lyrically, the songs are darker and more real but (we hope) they leave the listener feeling comforted in this saturated world we’ve built.
How has your evolution as a group shaped the direction of your music today, and how does it reflect your identity as artists?
Collaboration is the absolute foundation of this project. We have grown so much as musicians and as brothers over the years. So much of the recording process with Dan Carey requires us to be gig ready before we
step into the studio. This means we spend so much time in the practise room finding that pocket and staying there for as long as we can for days, weeks, months, years. When you’re spending so much time with 4 people
and learning about each other and nurturing each other creatively, it brings you very close together and I think that notion is reflected in our album. The fact that 5 very individual musicians have managed to create a record that we’re all so happy with, feels like such a wicked achievement.
The themes in your latest project are deeply poignant and resonate with a sense of time, memory, and personal challenges. What drew you to explore these ideas, and what do you hope listeners take away from them?
The whole concept came together so organically. What started as a mix of jams and a couple of more fleshed out songs were whittled down bit by bit and when you’re going through the process of trimming the fat, you start to notice similarities forming in some of the remaining tracks, especially with the lyrics. We naturally started writing about the more deeper experiences in life, like my recent AS diagnosis and Tom’s family health
scare, which subsequently ran parallel to stuff that Dan was going through at the time, so by the time we got to the studio there was this shared excitement about existentialism, time being this linear narrative, and memories being hugely vibrant when gong through significant changes in your life. It then became apparent that we wanted to manipulate time in the production by changing the speed of the tape we were recording on,
making the concept not only deeply rooted in the lyrics, but in the recording process as well. I think hugely impactful changes in life, be-it challenging or liberating can make us feel extremely lonely and vulnerable. I’d love this album to be a comforting representation of how to explore these landmarks and find ways to celebrate and nurture them.
What do you most want listeners to feel or take away from hearing the album?
That’s a tough question to answer, because how one listener interprets the album can be totally different to the next listener, and that idea fascinates us.
You’ve highlighted the idea of unison vocals as a way to foster unity within the group. How has that approach influenced your creative process and the way you collaborate with one another?
It was a difficult process at first, due to the fact that me Tom and have such different melodic styles, but that’s why it was such a valuable exercise. I can’t speak for Tom but I think it’s improved my vocal writing dramatically because it forces you to push the boundaries of your vocal spectrum in a sonic environment you’re already so familiar with. It’s given us a better understanding of how we write and encourages a huge sense of camaraderie. I’ve said before that it’s a great feeling hearing your mate sing your lyrics with the same conviction as you and you get to return the same feeling on the next track.
Were there any new approaches or techniques you experimented with this time around?
As mentioned earlier, the technique that stands out the most was fiddling with the tape speed. For the title track All In The Game, we slowed down the tape and got Sol and Dyl to record the drums and Sax at half speed. This meant that when we sped the tape back up, the drums sounded like a pitched up breakbeat and the sax line had this chaotic rushed feel despite being in tune and in time with the rest of the track. Another element worth mentioning is Annie Walton on the cello. This was the first time we’d recorded strings for Moreish and we wanted it to beused in more of an unconventional way. We layered her cello in this infinite pitch shifting drone for Slouch, a scratchy, unsettling cluster in ACID and a 50s Hollywood middle eight in Railway. Working with Annie was such a joy, and we’ve been watching her play for a couple years in Kyoto Kyoto so felt genuinely honoured to have her on the album.
The production of this album involved innovative and unconventional techniques that pushed boundaries. How did you embrace those experimental methods while maintaining your creative vision?
When working in the studio with Dan, there’s very rarely a ‘no’ whenever someone has an idea. It’s the perfect pairing because we come in with a whole batch of chaos that we struggle to contain in a box, yet he has a magical way of framing it all in this cohesive universe through his nuts production. Somehow he’s brings it all together into a neat package without compromising the dynamics of the tracks.
What were the biggest lessons you learned while making this album, either creatively or personally?
That authenticity and conviction is key.
As you prepare to bring your music to live audiences, what do you hope people experience emotionally and thematically when they see you perform?
I just hope that they get the same feeling I do when watching something I really f*ing like. I groan and shout and laugh, so maybe some of that.
Photo credits to Billy Tourle
How has your sound developed from your earlier releases to this new chapter of your work? Did you consciously aim for a different tone or mood this time around?
When we first signed to Speedy Wunderground we were enamoured by the buzzy Windmill scene that was taking over at the time. That sound was contagious not only for us but for everyone around us, so it was kind
of inevitable that we were exploring the more heavy post-punk sound. By the time we got to the second EP we found our feet and were expanding our songwriting, exploring deeper meaning and structures, drawing from influences like Wilco and Pavement and focusing more on the instrumentation as opposed to the more animated production the we were experimenting with in the first EP.
With All In The Game, we aimed to draw out the best of both EPs, by framing more insightful memories and stories within an immersive space, allowing the production to accommodate the narrative when necessary as
opposed to relying on it solely. Lyrically, the songs are darker and more real but (we hope) they leave the listener feeling comforted in this saturated world we’ve built.
How has your evolution as a group shaped the direction of your music today, and how does it reflect your identity as artists?
Collaboration is the absolute foundation of this project. We have grown so much as musicians and as brothers over the years. So much of the recording process with Dan Carey requires us to be gig ready before we
step into the studio. This means we spend so much time in the practise room finding that pocket and staying there for as long as we can for days, weeks, months, years. When you’re spending so much time with 4 people
and learning about each other and nurturing each other creatively, it brings you very close together and I think that notion is reflected in our album. The fact that 5 very individual musicians have managed to create a record that we’re all so happy with, feels like such a wicked achievement.
The themes in your latest project are deeply poignant and resonate with a sense of time, memory, and personal challenges. What drew you to explore these ideas, and what do you hope listeners take away from them?
The whole concept came together so organically. What started as a mix of jams and a couple of more fleshed out songs were whittled down bit by bit and when you’re going through the process of trimming the fat, you start to notice similarities forming in some of the remaining tracks, especially with the lyrics. We naturally started writing about the more deeper experiences in life, like my recent AS diagnosis and Tom’s family health
scare, which subsequently ran parallel to stuff that Dan was going through at the time, so by the time we got to the studio there was this shared excitement about existentialism, time being this linear narrative, and memories being hugely vibrant when gong through significant changes in your life. It then became apparent that we wanted to manipulate time in the production by changing the speed of the tape we were recording on,
making the concept not only deeply rooted in the lyrics, but in the recording process as well. I think hugely impactful changes in life, be-it challenging or liberating can make us feel extremely lonely and vulnerable. I’d love this album to be a comforting representation of how to explore these landmarks and find ways to celebrate and nurture them.
What do you most want listeners to feel or take away from hearing the album?
That’s a tough question to answer, because how one listener interprets the album can be totally different to the next listener, and that idea fascinates us.
You’ve highlighted the idea of unison vocals as a way to foster unity within the group. How has that approach influenced your creative process and the way you collaborate with one another?
It was a difficult process at first, due to the fact that me Tom and have such different melodic styles, but that’s why it was such a valuable exercise. I can’t speak for Tom but I think it’s improved my vocal writing dramatically because it forces you to push the boundaries of your vocal spectrum in a sonic environment you’re already so familiar with. It’s given us a better understanding of how we write and encourages a huge sense of camaraderie. I’ve said before that it’s a great feeling hearing your mate sing your lyrics with the same conviction as you and you get to return the same feeling on the next track.
Were there any new approaches or techniques you experimented with this time around?
As mentioned earlier, the technique that stands out the most was fiddling with the tape speed. For the title track All In The Game, we slowed down the tape and got Sol and Dyl to record the drums and Sax at half speed. This meant that when we sped the tape back up, the drums sounded like a pitched up breakbeat and the sax line had this chaotic rushed feel despite being in tune and in time with the rest of the track. Another element worth mentioning is Annie Walton on the cello. This was the first time we’d recorded strings for Moreish and we wanted it to beused in more of an unconventional way. We layered her cello in this infinite pitch shifting drone for Slouch, a scratchy, unsettling cluster in ACID and a 50s Hollywood middle eight in Railway. Working with Annie was such a joy, and we’ve been watching her play for a couple years in Kyoto Kyoto so felt genuinely honoured to have her on the album.
The production of this album involved innovative and unconventional techniques that pushed boundaries. How did you embrace those experimental methods while maintaining your creative vision?
When working in the studio with Dan, there’s very rarely a ‘no’ whenever someone has an idea. It’s the perfect pairing because we come in with a whole batch of chaos that we struggle to contain in a box, yet he has a magical way of framing it all in this cohesive universe through his nuts production. Somehow he’s brings it all together into a neat package without compromising the dynamics of the tracks.
What were the biggest lessons you learned while making this album, either creatively or personally?
That authenticity and conviction is key.
As you prepare to bring your music to live audiences, what do you hope people experience emotionally and thematically when they see you perform?
I just hope that they get the same feeling I do when watching something I really f*ing like. I groan and shout and laugh, so maybe some of that.
Photo credits to Billy Tourle
