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Despite the band having been somewhat torn apart recently - first with Roxy making and breaking a new band, then Mikki leaving, then Katie and James going part-time, Kato joining and then leaving, Modi joining, Joshy losing his voice to a bout of hayfever .... Firecracker 47 appear to be the new Line-up Changeling. But for some reason, they're trying to hold themselves together - and are back with the first single from their new album.
"'Melanie' is very personal to me," says bassist/vocalist James Kairiri, who wrote the song. "It's a little confusing. Think about someone whom you can't live with and sometimes you wish they'd die. But deep down, you wouldn't want them to go away. That's Melanie, and she's a personification of what labels are to me. For example, it's quite well-known that Dark Blue Music hates genre labels, but you need a description of the music, even 'mixed-genre' and 'madcore' are descriptions."
Does he know anyone with that name? James laughs and says no, as if it was just out of a random name generator - but if you listen to the song carefully, it's clear that 'Melanie' is as random a name as 'Ana' in Silverchair's 'Ana's Song'. Similarly to "Ana wrecks your life", James usually sings 'Melanie' right before a word starting with N, eg. "As you die, Melanie, nobody needs you" = "As you die, melanin, a body needs you". Saying opposite and slightly confusing things.
The single will include two versions - one sung by James with Joshy backing (which will be the lead single), the other one t'other way round. "I like his version better," says Joshy Firecracker, lead vocalist. "It sounds much better with a deep voice. I added some falsetto in the single version, which sounds good, but it definitely sounds better with a lot of bass, vocals as well as the instrument. Also in the second version, James took a back seat and played a much simpler line, while Roxy let rip with the guitar solos - it's like we took a blues song and we punked it, haha."
The single also includes an exclusive, one-off (well, Roxy insists that it's a one-off) rap-rock track about the Australian extreme sport of 'planking'. "Everyone in Australia is going on and on about planking," says Brisbane-born Joshy, "and since someone died of it, it's become a worldwide phenomenon. I thought it was worth singing about. Roxy didn't."
'Melanie' will be released in a few days. (Artwork plus lyrics to both songs - yes, I have a half-written daft song about planking - coming soon.) |
