Premiering his new single ‘Lawyer’ on Short.Fast.Loud on triple j, XIII releases today his double A-side single Lawyer | I Want An Axe To Break The Ice – Available Here and announces his debut album Bloody Banks Of The Swan will be released Friday September 28th – Pre-Order Now
XIII is the solo project of Dan Sanders (Gyroscope) and Bloody Banks Of The Swan is a 13-track collection of songs of despair, loss, hate, rage, isolation and drunken lust; the work of an artist desperate to evolve his craft. Some of these songs sound like nothing he has ever done before.
‘I Want An Axe To Break The Ice’ was written after the death of Sanders lifelong musical hero David Bowie. He recalls, “I went to my studio and I’ve never done this before, but I wrote and tracked the song ‘I Want An Axe To Break The Ice’ in its entirety. I had everything plugged in, I was necking red wine, and that was musically a total Bowie thing. It absorbed me.”
The video for the abrasive punk rock venom, ‘Lawyer’ was directed, edited and created by Dan. Filmed at his personal recording studio ‘The Cabin’, which is fitting as Bloody Banks Of The Swan was predominantly recorded at his home studio. With over 100 songs written since 2008 at The Cabin, some of the demos were so good they made the final record, while others were re-recorded with the aid of Dave Parkin (Jebediah, Bob Evans) at Perth’s Blackbird Studios, where Sanders also captured his vocals.
“I wanted that live vibe and sound not as shiny as maybe I’m accustomed to, and to let my hair down a little, that’s how I captured it in my studio,” he says.
Best known as guitarist-vocalist for Perth band Gyroscope, Sanders was keen for his solo project to still have a band feel. He was determined to play all the instruments himself. “I sort of did a crash course,” he laughs. “I don’t even know guitar and vocals, that well, but the luxury of having a home studio meant I could come up every night and become proficient on bass and drums.” Along with his own drums and bass, good mates Drew Goddard (Karnivool) and Jon Stockman (Karnivool) laid down additional drums and bass, respectively.
“I always wanted to try make it sound like a band, but not really,” he adds of the recordings. “The only thing I had to go off was Foo Fighters’ self-titled album, where Dave Grohl played everything. You can really feel that it’s just Dave jamming with himself, having fun, having that freedom.”
ALBUM TRACKLISTING
1. (Don’t) Leave Me Alone
2. Lawyer
3. Hell Mary
4. I Need You
5. La Lumen
6. I Want An Axe To Break The Ice
7. From The Bloody Banks Of The Swan
8. Mind Over Murder
9. Dead Credit Society
10. Elizabeth III
11. I’ve Been Trippin My Face Off Since Last Christmas
12. The Witching Hour
13. Vulture
