THE PRESETS SHOW THEIR COLOURS
The deliberately tasteless cover of The Presets latest album, Hi-Viz, reads as a label warning for its graphic musical content. It looks like the aftermath of a high-velocity exploding piñata, which feels apt for the cascade of wild, zany and out-there compositions. Hi-Viz kicks off with the wild sample-glitching, chop sequenced beats, and phase-y vocal effects of Knuckles — bedazzled onto horn riffs and Julian Hamilton’s distorted vocals — and doesn’t let up from there.
“We love dance music, but for us it has always been more interesting when people have taken the format and really done something crazy with it. I’m thinking of bands like The Avalanches or Basement Jaxx or Daft Punk,” explained Kim Moyes, drummer, keyboardist, and producer, and the other half of The Presets. “They have always put a lot of other information in their music to make it sound much more interesting than straight dance music. For us, it meant making music that felt very visceral, and as we proceeded we also got more and more interested in getting stylistic and sonic variety in the album. Hence the opener, Knuckles, which sets the tone because it is so out there and zany.”
The Presets have been at the cutting edge of Australian electronic music for a long time now. The pair have a number one, triple platinum album; been awarded 13 ARIA Award nominations; and taken home seven. They’ve shaped the charts in all kinds of ways: from Julian co-writing with Flume, Cut Copy and Silverchair, to Moyes producing a consistent stream of indie hits for Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders, Kirin J. So yeah, The Presets have earned every right to ‘do what they want’, in the brightest, most fluoro way.
