Clint Hyndman, Something For Kate’s dependable and redoubtable drummer, admits that in the lead-up to each album’s release he still gets nervous, as the anticipation for release is a slow process for the band members – they live with the finished album for six months before release, and the written songs themselves for upwards of eighteen months.

“It is nerve-wracking to put it out there for people to judge and listen to,” he admits. Decamping to Los Angeles to record with Brad Wood, whose credits include the likes of Liz Phair and Phantom Planet, Clint explains that the vibe for Desert Lights was far more positive than that which the band experienced before departing Melbourne. “We’d had a really bad year writing it in Melbourne, so we wanted to go anywhere but there,” he explains.

Of the choice of producers, Clint says that Brad was proactive, and most importantly interested in working with the band. “He said all the right things – ‘I think you need to do this, you need to do that, and by the way I bought your last two records’. He owned them before we approached him, which was great, so he knew a bit about the band and said the right things that made you feel confident that it was going to be good to work with him.

The songwriting process for Desert Lights was the toughest situation Something For Kate have ever encountered, with Clint explaining that frontman Paul Dempsey hit that point where he thought he couldn’t write a song, and didn’t know what to do. “But then he wrote a couple of songs and we built it up, and then culled it,” Clint elaborates.

It’s also a significantly shorter album than recent efforts, with only ten tracks. Where in the past Something For Kate have stretched their own bounds and placed every song reasonably finished on the completed album, this time there was a conscientious decision to keep it tighter and trimmer. “We all said before we made this record we wanted a ten song record, a concise to-the-point record.”

It’s also significantly more aggressive – only “Washed Out to Sea” and “This is the Life” stand out as less aggressive than the likes of opener “California” or single “Cigarettes and Suitcases”. Clint believes that these songs are necessary to add colour to the album, with “This is the Life” summing up everything the band went through writing the record; it’s quite a morose song. “When we toured with Bowie a few years ago,” Clint says, “his keyboardist Mike Garson watched us play every night and said that if we ever came to L.A. he’d like to play on our record. So Paul had “Washed Out to Sea” and it was him solo playing piano and singing, so now it’s all Mike playing piano on that. We were so flattered – he was recording with Gwen Stefani, and it was cool to have him, one of the Spiders From Mars, playing on one of our records.”

Many of the songs ended up being completed in studio – it’s obvious, too, with lots of references to the desert, and the bright lights of “California” itself. “Musically most of the album was written before we went to L.A.,” he says, “but Paul was writing lyrics up to the last day of mixing. That was the big problem with this record; coming up with words. Songs like “California” and “Statues” were all written while we were over there, because he had no choruses to speak of.”

It’s not the first time he’s struggled to pen material, and finish songs. But Clint says that this time it was a serious conundrum; it was the worst it’s ever been, and the depression got a massive hold on the tall band leader. “It was a very weird time, and I think the pressure of it got to him,” Clint claims. “The whole thing with Paul is that he’ll labour over a word or a syllable for weeks; if it’s not the right one he doesn’t want to put it in there. It wasn’t that he wasn’t writing anything – he just wasn’t writing anything that he felt was good enough. He’s quite a perfectionist with his words and what he wants to say.”

Something For Kate are now one of very few Australian artists to go through a record contract; this album is it, the last one they owe on the contract they signed way back when they were green in the extreme. “We were talking about this the other day,” he admits. Clint sounds almost in awe of the band’s own achievement; to survive over a decade and release five quality albums is quite the achievement. “We’re looked at as a heritage act on the label. It’s an amazing feat, also for a band that hasn’t sold the numbers of Powderfinger, and I think it shows the faith of the label to stick with us.

Yet to think about the options for the future, it’s not something that the band factor into their lives. While Paul has always talked about doing a solo record, it will all be dependent on Desert Lights and where the band go to from here.

Paul has been quoted as saying that last 2 albums could have been a double album, merely separated by 2 years. It’s something that Clint personally doesn’t think is true. “Echolalia stands out as being a completely different album to The Official Fiction,” he believes.

The latter is certainly much more aggressive than the former; the more angular guitars gives a hint as to where Desert Lights has gone. Album highlight “Transparanoia” is certainly different – it kicks off with a massive rock ‘n roll riff, before devolving into a Sonic Youth-like squall. It’s funny to hear Something For Kate play something with such a ‘rock’ sound. “I thought it would have been a great way to start the record,” Clint says enthusiastically. “That song sums up a lot for me what the whole band is about; it covers all these different areas.”

Something For Kate’s Desert Lights is out now, with the band to tour nationally. Dates:
Wednesday August 30: UCU, Canberra
Thursday August 31: Newcastle Uni
Friday Sept 1: Forum, Sydney
Thursday Sept 7: Tivoli, Brisbane
Friday Sept 8: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
Saturday Sept 9: Buderim Tavern, Sunshine Coast
Wednesday Sept 13: Brothers, Cairns
Thursday Sept 14: Bombay Rock, Townsville
Friday Sept 15: Main Street, Mackay
Saturday Sept 16: Great Western Hotel. Rockhampton
Sunday Sept 17: Maraboon Tavern, Emerald
Wednesday Sept 20: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Friday Sept 22: Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Sunday Sept 24: HQ, Adelaide
Friday October 6: Capitol, Perth
Saturday October 7: Prince of Wales, Bunbury
Sunday October 8: Fly By Night, Fremantle
Thursday October 12: Curly's Bar, Hobart
Friday October 13: Saloon Bar, Launceston