"On this album there's less songs about relationships I had with girls in high school because that was what the old stuff was about and I understand why we have many teenage girls into the music. This is definitely different, the lyrics are a lot different. They're not just based on relationships and day-to-day boo-hoo problems like that," Jesse Rutherford, tells Clash.
The shift in lyrical content isn't the only transformation The Neighbourhood have made on their new album 'Wiped Out!', which is their first album since their 2013 debut 'I Love You' that they also released on Columbia Records. The debut blended doom-laden hip hop beats, haunted atmospherics and a mostly sung pop vocal that harnessed the energy of a rock band or rap. This time around, however, they've stepped up their game and created a whole new sound that feels like a new vitalised horizon for the band. There's brighter melodies, intricate atmospheric soundscapes, reverb-soaked guitar tones and walls of bass that crash in and out. Meanwhile, R&B and rock influence Jesse's moody vocals which sit in the mix beautifully. It's a complex musical piece yet fiercely direct lyrically.
This is welcome sonic progress and the lyrical shift – which though still autobiographical – sees the shedding of his youthful naivety and a coming of age. Subsequently, a broader audience awaits these teenage icons, or at least Jesse is hoping so as he has a restless ambition to grow the band's following. "It's a little weird because some fans go so..SO crazy but I feel it's such a small section of the world that goes crazy like that. There's so many other people who have no clue who we are," says the 24 year old Californian frontman in a way that implies he has unfinished business.
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Fortunately, all the assets are there for him to go forward. However, the work that has gone on behind the scenes hasn't happened without any struggle. Notably, they didn't finish the album as quickly as they would have wanted to. "It took a while to make the album. Firstly, we rented this house in Malibu that was really cool but the album didn't get finished there but some ideas came out of there. Then we went to a studio in Santa Monica where we did all our other shit before this album before finally landing at our bassist Zach's mum's place which is where it all came together. It was a pretty simple set up just living room kind of shit but it was really nice, really comfy," he says reminiscing fondly.
The house and makeshift studio he is referring to was near the community where he grew up, and where the band formed, is a scenic place in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains called Newbury Park. Medical marijuana around here is big business and although we don't delve too deep into a discussion about the influence of it on his music, he remarks: "I smoked a few blunts with Danny Brown when we were on tour together". The community though, whether weed was involved or not, has definitely been a fantastic launch pad for the band, and he feels grateful for growing up there.
"I always knew I wanted to do it (get signed) and I thought coming from the area I came from I didn't really have much of an excuse to not be able to do it. I think there are a lot of opportunities in this pretty privileged area and a lot of people don't believe they can do things like what we do now – get singed to a label and tour the world," he says as he is waking up from spending the night travelling from Vancouver to Seattle.
Landing in the place he's set his ambition toward reflects a lot about how driven Jesse Rutherford, who founded the group, is. Impressively he manifests this energy on stage too: "I want to express myself through songs in the way I feel I should. I'm kind of a loud in your face kind of person so when I'm on stage it's the same thing,' he says while yawning from just waking up making it difficult to feel that intense side of him.
However, having seen The Neighbourhood live at Reading Festival last year, we can safely say his charisma translates to the bigger stages incredibly well. But Jesse tells us they've only just begun to get to the level they're happy with on stage. "With the production and everything going on stage, there's so much that could go wrong. I just said to the boys two weeks into a five week tour that I'm getting the hang of it," – reassuring to know ahead of their tour in November across Europe.
With this tour in mind, seeing them is an opportunity to see a new band who are actually carving out their own sound and evading pastiche habits that prevail throughout a lot of the industry. So when Jesse says: "I don't believe we sound like anybody else. So many people are getting giant because of a sound that already happened generations ago and it's being brought back," we feel he makes a very justifiable point. This is new music that you can't quite put your finger on, it's the sound of The Neighbourhood carving out a path of their own that we're happy to journey down.
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Words: Cai Trefor
The Neighbourhood's new album 'Wiped Out!' is out now.
