Melbourne four-piece's debut album ‘By the Book’ questions place, belonging and the relationship to ‘home’ in a connected and sometimes disconnected world, focusing on where we differ and where we, as humans, are inherently similar.
In the mid-2010s, it seemed like Lachlan Denton and The Ocean Party were about to take over the Australian scene. Having toured the country relentlessly, the Melbourne-based quintet had finally begun gaining the well-deserved attention they had been pushing for. All of a sudden they weren’t just an Unearthed act, instead they were a group scoring heavy rotation on Triple J and Spotify play counts in the millions. Then the tragic news of the group’s drummer Zac Denton’s death was announced, coinciding with the announcement that The Ocean Party would no longer continue.
“The Ocean Party would still exist, but after my brother passed away and that was it for me,” reflects the group’s singer and guitarist Lachlan Denton.
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
“I made the call, I just didn’t want to continue doing that band and have those experiences without him being in the picture, because it was just as much his band as it was anyone’s. I do believe that if Zac was still alive we would have released an Ocean Party record every year.”
After taking a step back from touring for a few years, Denton took the time to hone in on his songwriting and now, is excitedly back on stage playing the By The Book, the debut release from his new group Partner Look.
“The reception has generally been exceeding what we thought it would,” he states.
“We didn’t have high expectations or think that this record would change the world or anything, so it’s already blown us away with how it’s been received. It’s been really nice.”
Having initially formed in 2018 as a surprise gift for a family friend’s wedding, Partner Look has now transformed into one of the frontrunners of Melbourne’s dream-pop scene. Although considering the group features German sisters Ambrin and Anila Hasnain of Cool Sounds and Studio Magic, as well as their respective partners Dainis Lacey (Cool Sounds) and Lachlan Denton, all of who have already established names in the Melbourne music scene, that’s no real surprise.
When speaking of the family dynamic within the group Denton said, “It’s honestly a massive upside.”
“We are going to Europe to do some shows later this year and after that heading to America for a few shows. But we will also be visiting Ambrin and Anila’s family and attending a wedding in America. In a way, it’s kind of the easiest band to make those kinds of obligations work whilst still touring.”
“But most of this did just fall into place, they didn’t come from us sitting down and discussing what we thought Partner Look would be as a band. But when you create a place for everyone to write the music that they want to write, it seems like things naturally tend to go towards a certain way. And I feel like because there’s all these different relationships and dynamics in the band, it makes it so easy to share an identity.”
With the group’s debut highlight dream-pop soundscapes with moments that tie in with art-punk vocal accentuations, Denton assured us that By The Book is mainly a snapshot of Partner Look at this point in time, with the band’s free-flowing ethos allowing them to go in any direction from here on in.
“It’s the great thing about making music with people who have not released as much music before, their creative decisions are far more interesting than someone who has been doing it for many years.”
“As you go along you work out what other people do to write the songs that you like and that influences you, which is great. But I think it’s something you can get easily trapped in.”
“But with Partner Look, there’s certainly no expectation of what the band is at this stage, it’s just what sounds interesting to us.”
“This shows on the album as it is quite a mixture; there’s some really post-punk new wave stuff and then some strange art-pop sounding stuff, but at the end of the day it’s just pop music,” he laughs.
You can purchase the album via Bandcamp here.
