While Jebediah's new album Of Someday Shambles shares a moniker as cryptic as their debut Slightly Odway, in every other aspect it represents a great leap forward.
For one thing, this album is not just a series of well-crafted pop songs laid back to back. There's been a lot of growth in the Jebediah camp, no doubt due to the enormous amount of touring and live playing the band has undertaken since the release of their debut.
- Lawrence English
Now, nearly two years on from the release of Slightly Odway, the band once again offers a disc full of their version of pop. Of Someday Shambles has a new level of sophistication to it, and a greater variety of sounds and styles. Bassist Vanessa Thornton explains how Of Someday Shambles differs from its predecessor.
"Well, I think the biggest difference is what we've been listening to," Vanessa says. "We've opened up to a lot of different music in the last few years. That's impacted on us, whether we are aware of it or not. I think inevitably what you read and listen to and absorb all eventually makes its way into the music in one way or another. I know I've been listening to a lot more country of late. A lot of female country artists and that's definitely impacted on me. We've all been listening to a bit more country.
"Another big factor for us on this record was the fact that we've been touring so much. We've played so many live shows since the first one (album) that the band has really gotten to know each other a lot better. We are used to what each other does more than we were before this. As time goes on, of course you are going to get better at writing and playing, and that's just what happened with us."
Jebediah recently took to the international stage - more precisely Canada - spending several weeks touring around the country with Big Sugar (one of Canada's more popular national acts). The band sent their manager on a reconnaissance trip a few months ahead of them, with an eye on releasing their material overseas.
"We have just got back from a tour of Canada which was good. We did a few dates there with a band called Big Sugar, they're pretty popular over there, so to be touring with them was a good chance for us to play to full rooms. That was good for us too because I think we might be getting our albums released there in the new year. We had some people come and check us out. We'll just have to wait and see, but it all looks good!
"When you are touring a place like Canada, it can be very difficult to get anyone to see you unless you are there playing with a band other people already know. It's like if an overseas band comes here and tours. Unless people have already heard of them then it can be very difficult for them to get anyone to come and see them. We were lucky in a lot of ways because our manager was able to organise a really good booking agent for us. They got us a lot of good shows which was a huge help."
Did the band find any cultural similarities?
"We actually found Canada to be quite like Australia. I mean, there's a lot of similarities as much as differences, of course, but overall its' not too far from what Australia is like. There's a lot of travelling when you tour there, like Australia. The population seems to be spread out like here. Along the coasts there seems to be a lot more people than in the middle of the country. You can play in all the towns in between one coast and the other, but apart from a few exceptions, the biggest shows are on the coasts.
"The bands we played with were very friendly. If you had a beer in your hand then you were pretty much assured of having someone talking to you before too long. I mean, that's one of the things about touring or playing festivals anywhere, not just Canada. If you have a beer and someone else has one then you have a common ground. I know it sounds kind of weird, but half the time you look at someone you've never met, they have a beer, you have a beer and then the next thing you know you're having a chat to them.
"I think people in Canada are kind of like us. I mean, they were all very friendly - it wasn't like people would be stand-offish or anything. They'd come up and talk to us after the shows. They're a pretty friendly laidback bunch over there."