Stream PVT’s Latest Album of Expansive and Innovative Electronica

PVT return after a three-year break with their fifth LP New Spirit, that continues their experimentation and surrealism that is inspired by the Australian environmental and political landscape.

Brothers Richard and Laurence Pike and Dave Miller, deliver ten, synth heavy tracks that wind from rallying against the state of conservative right-wing Australia, to songs inspired by Detroit techno and even some suburban homicidal rage.

The centrepiece of the album, the nine-minute, "Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend", comes from the name of a landscape photo by the Australian photographer Peter Dombrovskis depicting a bend in Tasmania's Franklin River.

Read Richard's description of each track that provide some great insight into what is a beautifully diverse and intricate record.

Spirit Of The Plains
This was inspired by Sydney Long's painting of the same name. He painted the Australian landscape in a kind of mystical art nouveau style. The bushland is vast and wild and has an undeniable mysticism to it. He imagined the spirits in a kind of beautiful pagan harmony.
We're conjuring spirits with this opening tune. Voices are present but there are no words.

A Feeling You Can Find
Like a lot of the record, this is about renewal. It's about trying to revive your feelings. Trying to get your attitude in order. It's a power number. We were reaching for something different with the sound too. It's maximal. It's digital. It's rhythmical. Loads of plastic midi guitar sounds. It's like Autechre with a live band. Maybe.

Salt Lake Heart
This one is heavy to me. It's the first real political song I've written. It's a rallying against the state of conservative right-wing Australia and most of the world at the moment. I imagined the heart of Australia – a massive land mass – and the massive salt lakes that exist in it's centre. It's about the heart of a nation drying up. It's got the Seinfeld midi bass, and our first proper synth solo. And for the nerds - if you're a fan of the Aeon Flux cartoon, I've used a lot of soft synths made by it's composer, Drew Neumann.

Another Life
I guess a lot of the irony of modern Australian culture is this yearning for prosperity – of status and wealth for the middle class, and conservative politicians really play into that. But in fact it really is a very lucky and well-off place. Especially for the older generation. And the same thing has happened in the UK. It's a sad thing. I think humans are never satisfied and just want more all the time. Even if it means ignoring the less fortunate.

Fool In Rain II
A homage to our own track from O Soundtrack My Heart, it's a renewed version for 2017. I was listening to a heap of techno at the time. I'm especially into that hi-hat feel midway through. It's a kind of 909 Detroit techno thing. Real simple. But real effective.

Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend
The title comes from a Peter Dombrovskis photo of a bend in Tasmania's Franklin River. It was used in a 1983 campaign to prevent the destruction of large areas of national forest. I saw the massive print hanging at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and I loved the title. The chorus rhyme was in my head that day. I guess I imagined what it'd be like having your land taken away from you. When I wrote this the then Australian prime minister was talking at pro-logging industry dinners and publicly proclaiming 'coal is good for humanity'. What an embarrassment.

Kangaroo
The kangaroo here is a metaphor for Australia. It's a really weird creature when you think about it. A real freak of biology. So I guess the song is about finding power in this strangeness, harnessing it's strength for something positive. Because kangaroos can turn really vicious. I worry that the Australian people are going from being a welcoming and relaxed people to vicious and selfish.

Murder Mall
This is based on a true story. I wasn't there, but I read about it. A stabbing in a suburban Westfield shopping centre. I guess something struck me as very Australian about the story. The shopping mall has become the meeting place for suburban Australia, much like America I suppose. There's something incredibly feral about someone walking into a shop, buying a knife, then stabbing someone in front of shoppers.

New Spirit
This is our first 'rap'. It was in part inspired by a track by a band called Flash And The Pan – which was fronted by now passed away Aussie legend Stevie Wright, of the Easybeats. The lyric here has a lot of direct references to the backwards-ness of the Aussie government – religious connotations, 'knights and dames' referring to the re-institution of the colonial idea of Knighthood, the disrespect of women. Just all the regressive things going on in the name of fuck knows what.

Fake Sun In China
I saw images on a news report of Beijing in complete smog from pollution – there is a giant screen the authorities would play footage of the sun rising, so people would know when sunrise was. Because of the smog. That's crazy. I think we're now in the bleak future we were promised in science fiction novels.

'New Spirit' is available Feb 17 on Create Control. 

PVT 2017 Australian Tour:
Feb 24 - Melbourne at NGB
Feb 25 - Brisbane at The Foundry
March 3 - Sydney at Oxford Arts Factory