The Preatures

The first time I ever saw The Preatures play was way back in 2013 when they opened for Hungry Kids of Hungary on their You’re a Shadow tour. Admittedly, I had absolutely no clue who they were as a band, but I instantaneously knew that I was picking up what they were putting down and I’ve been following them ever since – waiting, and praying, for an album.
My prayers were finally answered when it was announced that The Preatures were bringing out their very first album, Blue Planet Eyes. The album dropped on the 26th of September and not long after they announced a tour. It’s as if the big guy upstairs heard me, opened up the heavens and somehow out fell everything I’d been waiting to hear from the band. It was total bliss.
The band is currently on tour in the US, but not to worry, they’re bringing it to Australian shores soon enough. Gideon Bensen, guitarist and vocalist for the band, was kind enough to join me on the phone so that we could have a little chat about their adventures so far.
“I guess we’ve done quite a lot in the time that we’ve been a band. We’ve done a lot of touring and a lot of recording and it’s kind of moulded us into what you’re seeing on stage today,” says Gideon after telling him about the first time I saw them live.
Although they have developed and changed as a band, their stage presence has maintained the same high energy the whole way through their journey together, which translates well on their album. Blue Planet Eyes features songs such as ‘It Gets Better’, ‘Somebody’s Talking’ and of course ‘Is This How You Feel?’ – all very high energy songs that perfectly encompass the same energy that you would see if they were on stage right in front of you.
“We had sort of a big picture idea of what we wanted to create but, at heart, we were still playing around with a lot of things and a lot of ideas,” says Gideon on the creation of the album. “It was really after all the travelling around and experimenting that the album really began to take shape, because that’s when it began to develop its own personality.”
Through chatting to Gideon the topic of the album cover was brought up, which features a stunning shot of Isabella, the lead vocalist of the band. “It was just a great shot. Tom (the bass guitarist of the band) and Isabella were at his place. Tom had a bath there and it just kind of happened. It was just a strong photo. You want something strong and striking on the album that, you know, says something about what the album is about, you know? And I think it did that.”
The band has a very different sound compared to a lot of music that has been on the radio lately, particularly on the album. I asked Gideon if they had been inspired by any kind of music they’d been listening to when they were writing, to which his answer made the influence very clear.
“We were listening to a lot of different stuff whilst making the album, but there was a lot of Prince, a lot of Talking Heads. Here We Go Magic was another band that influenced us. But inherently it’s just always been about songs and writing songs because it’s just what we love to do.”
The Blue Planet Eyes tour is only making two stops in Victoria: November 20th at the Barwon Club in Geelong and on November 22nd at The Forum in Melbourne. Admittedly, I haven’t seen them play since their opening days, but I sure as hell won’t be missing out on them when they come down to Geelong. If they’re as good as they were the last time I saw them, it’ll be a show that you don’t want to miss.
When&Where: Barwon Club – November 20 & The Forum – November 22
By Jessica Alves, Photo by Cybele Malinowski