MUMBAI: Chennai-based alternative/electro-rock band The F16s will release its first full-length studio album towards the end of September, confirmed the band’s guitarist Abhinav Krishnaswamy. He further added that 45 per cent of the recording for the yet untitled album is done, with only mixing and mastering pending, something Krishnaswamy said, will take a bulk of the band’s time.
Speaking about the sound of the new ten-track record, he said that it reflects the growth of the band and its members. “We have started to listen to more artists and have broadened our exposure to music. The album will represent how we, as a band, and individually, have grown. It is a lot more measured, and the melody of every track is highlighted. Having said that, we have still held on to the way we sound in our previous EPs,” Krishnaswamy added.
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The new album will mark the band’s first full-length studio album, after releasing two EPs – 2013’s ‘Kaleidoscope’, with seven tracks, and the two-track EP- ‘Nobody’s Gonna Wait’, which was released last November. The band, which won the first edition of ‘Road to Converse Rubber Tracks’, gave its members an opportunity to travel to New York, where they recorded tracks like ‘Blackboard’ and ‘Jacuzzi’ for ‘Nobody’s Gonna Wait’ with well-known producer Aaron Bastinelli.
“When we went to New York, we realised there is a completely different way of doing things. We learnt a lot about producing a record; we learnt how to analyse a finished record, and how to pay detailed attention towards the production of an album,” said Krishnaswamy. He also added that the sound of the new album is going to be heavier than the band’s previous efforts. “We have given more importance to synthesiser and drums,” added Krishnaswamy. He also said that the new album sounds like “heavy art-pop, while also continuing to be electro-rock.”
Krishnaswamy also stated that English indie rock bands The Horrors, and Foals, as well as Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala, served as music influences for the upcoming album. He also cited Julian Casablancas, lead vocalist of the 90s’ American rock band, The Strokes, as another musical influence. The band met Casablancas when in New York. “Our vocalist-guitarist Josh Fernandez tries to channel Julian through his song-writing and singing,” revealed Krishnaswamy.
Along with Krishnaswamy and Fernandez, The F16s consist of bassist Shashank Manohar, keyboardist Harshan Radhakrishnan and drummer Vikram Yesudas, and is managed by Only Much Louder (OML).
