Homosapien, the fourth and most recent album from Sydney/London experimental electronica trio PVT, is a revelatory record.
Glimmering with a glow of warmth and – yes – humanity, it’s loaded from fore to aft with generous servings of hi- and lo-fi synths, spacey soundscapes, crunchy guitars, and Richard Pike’s ruminative vocals.
It’s a fascinating listen, and when one compares it (as one might do) to their last album, 2010’s Church With No Magic, one feels the pieces of a cosmic puzzle slotting into place; this, it is certain, is where PVT belongs, this is where they’re meant to be.
It’s a glorious statement of wonderment and place. Every note and rhythm feels as if they belong, and listening to Homosapien is an unfettered joy.
According to Richard and Lawrence Pike, the brothers who make up two thirds of the band, the third being Dave Miller, the record was a joy to make as well.
Lawrence, speaking by phone from his home in Sydney, and Richard, on his mobile in his adopted home of London (“The wonders of technology!” exclaims Richard) sound relaxed and rather content about this new creation of theirs, as we chat about how they’ve grown as musicians (and people), the unique location where they recorded Homosapien, inspirations, and mystic mountain lizards.
“I think we’re more relaxed as people,” Richard says when asked about how their approach to the new album differed from previous works.“I think we’re more relaxed as people… and were able to have a lot more foresight about what we wanted to achieve.” – Richard Pike
“That’s the major difference; we’re just friends making music,” he continues. “With Church With No Magic it was a very tumultuous period for the band, and I think having some time away [from PVT], and then coming together was a very good thing!”
The “tumultuous period” he refers to begins in 2010; PVT (then known as Pivot) was served with a lawsuit regarding their name from an American (and lesser) band of the same name.
Rather than spend the money defending their name (and risking losing the suit), they decided to just drop the vowels and go from there. Church With No Magic was the first album they’d released under their new moniker – and one the Brothers Pike admit it was a rather odd record at that.
“You know what’s weird?” Lawrence asks. “[Church With No Magic] was strange like that. The album, the funny thing is, you look back on them; often it takes a year or so after putting it out and you can actually figure out exactly what it is. I look back now and I see… an album we had to make in some ways!”
Richard agrees. “I think the last one was a really pure expression we needed to let out, a real explosion of emotion, a lot of it intense and unbridled – this time we were all more relaxed and were able to have a lot more foresight about what we wanted to achieve.”
“And, you know, have a bit more fun with it!” he adds with a chuckle.
Homosapien was recorded out in the middle of nowhere, in a 120-year-old mansion on a sheep ranch about three hours outside of Sydney. “The nearest town is Yass, in New South Wales,” explains Richard. “It’s a special place!”
“Most of the building is empty,” he continues, “and it’s a great place to record – there are a lot of rooms and options… it was a great time, the three of us went down there with Ivan [Vizintin, who engineered the album] and set up a studio in the building, and we worked and cooked and wrangled sheep for a month, basically!”
“I think that was a big deal – being in this space,” Lawrence chimes in. “Having more time and freedom, that was the big idea – this isolated space. It’s a lot of work and it was only three weeks from start to finish, but those three weeks in a studio in the city? It’s a lot of time when you’re always on the clock!”
“And we wouldn’t have had many strange animals and kangaroos and snakes!” Richard adds with a laugh, breaking into a fascinating story about his daily morning walks in the country.
“I’d go up to the top of a little hill that I called Lizard Mountain – there was always this huge lizard, just sitting on the track, sort of defending the mountain,” he starts yarning.“Having more time and freedom, that was the big idea – this isolated space [away from the city]… And we wouldn’t have had many strange animals and kangaroos and snakes!” – Richard Pike
“He was like the gatekeeper of the mountain! He would just look at you, like, ‘Are you worthy of passing? Are you able to climb the mountain today?’ And I would say, ‘Yes.’ And I would walk past him. And then when I came back down, he wasn’t there…”
“Maybe he wasn’t there at all, Rich,” Lawrence adds with perfect comic timing.
After their sojourn in the bush, the songs were then whisked off to London, where they were mixed by the one and only Ben Hillier, who’s worked with Depeche Mode, Blur, and The Editors, among many other bands.
Hillier, the brothers steadfastly agree, was integral in making Homosapien sound the way it does.
“He has fantastic visions; not only where everything fits in the mix, but how to weigh certain parts in the mix,” Lawrence says. “That was an exciting thing to hear, and to work with someone who gives the music real dimension and space – which was something we talked a lot about on this record, space, and being patient with ideas – I feel like he was the perfect choice.”
Space and patience. These two qualities abound on Homosapien, and listening to the two talk about the creation of this magical record – it’s easy to see that PVT are in a good place.
Richard admits that part of the sound of the record was certainly inspired by the vastness of the atmosphere in which they recorded.
“There really is a bizarre spirituality with the land,” he says. “I don’t want to get too deep into it, but you can understand the Aboriginal’s history and storytelling when you’re in this vast emptiness. You really do commune with the land in a strange way.
“So I do think there’s this sort of vastness that happened on this record – and hopefully it’s come out!”
Homosapien is out now through Create/Control, read the Tone Deaf review here. PVT embark on their national tour tomorrow, Thursday 21st March, in Wollongong with shows around the nation. Full dates and details below.
PVT 2013 Australian Tour
W/ support from Collarbones, Elroy (Bris), I’ll’s (Melb), Mere Women (Syd) and Kučka (Perth).
Thursday March 21st | Wollongong
Tickets On Sale March 6th: The Unishop, Music Farmers 02 42280459, oztix.com.au
Friday March 22nd
The Zoo, Brisbane
Tickets available from oztix.com.au
Saturday March 23rd
Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Tickets available from cornerhotel.com
Thursday March 28th
(Good Friday Public Holiday Eve)
Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
Tickets available from moshtix.com.au
Saturday March 30th
The Bakery, Perth
Tickets available from moshtix.com.au
Sunday March 31st
Ed Castle Hotel, Adelaide
Tickets available from moshtix.com.au
Tickets to PVT’s Homosapien Tour are on sale now.
