The Amazons' Matt Thomson on their new album 'Future Dust': "It feels like a beginning"

How are you feeling for the new album?
The first record felt like the end of something, but this album felt like something we needed to get over. It’s the start of a journey in terms of the band and us creatively, as a four piece and individually. We had to push through and set the direction of what we wanted to do. It feels like a beginning.

How did writing for it go?
There are a lot of songs that we didn’t finish in time, so we’re already thinking about the next album. That wasn’t the case with the first; that album we just used up everything that we had. There was nothing left, ‘this is the best we’ve got’. Sonically it’s heavier and bigger than the first record; It’s a bit darker.

What was the inspiration behind that, it sounds quite introspective?
It’s basically about my 2018, lyrically. Lots of weird stuff happened on a personal level, but then I found a lot of the stuff I was talking about naturally fed into a slightly broader question. All our relationships are conducted on phones at the moment, like 50% of your relationship, and that’s your personal life - that’s your life.

It seemed to naturally feed into something broader. We’re at the beginning of such a weird time with this stuff that you don’t know what’s going to happen, and we don’t know what the consequences of this way we’re living, or conducting a social life are. Lyrically, that’s how I’m dressing everything - it has to come from the heart.

Matt Thomsom

That sounds ‘a bit heavy’.
Imagine trying to write a song about a really big question like that. It wasn’t going to be real, but it started personal and turned broader. You’re right about it being introspective, but it’s definitely dealing with this broader aspect. That’s just the time we’re in. It’s not about telling you what to do; it’s about reflecting. I don’t have answers; I don’t think anyone has answers, that’s why it’s an interesting time. You totally distrust anyone who says they do have answers because, how can you? So it was just about reflecting and I feel a lot of my personal life, I was confused and insecure about stuff and direction this was going in. It’s a bit of a dark record, lyrically at least, sonically probably as well.

Did you feel like it was something you needed to do for ‘the people’?
I don’t think any band is obliged to do that. You can address that stuff in a cool way and not be deemed a political band. There was an ‘Ugh, should I talk about this?’, but once you get over that and try not to be preachy, like, ‘I’m right, and you’re wrong’, it’s not really about that. It’s just about reflecting.

Is that something that other bands should be doing?
There’s definitely a place for it, cause it’s just expression. I’m not going, ‘Fucking hell! What are bands doing?! Wake the fuck up!’ It’s not really like that; it’s about just doing what you want to do. Bands that address it - cool, but don’t ram it down your throat.