Rock & Pop

Highschool

Dienstag, 07.05.2024, 20:00
Maschinenhaus in der Kulturbrauerei
Knaackstraße 97 / U2 Eberswalder Straße, 10435 Berlin

Tickets

HighSchool, the effusively-hyped Naarm/Melbourne-raised, now-London-based post-punk outfit, today announce their forthcoming second studio EP, Accelerator, and unveil their latest single and video ‘Doesn’t Matter’, out now via [PIAS] Australia. Out April 19, the release of Accelerator looks set to assert HighSchool’s full arrival and propel the duo from one of Australian indie’s best-kept secrets to much-fawned-over breakout stars.

On the follow-up to their cult-classic 2021 debut EP Forever At Last, the band deliver five tracks of emotionally charged, elliptical songwriting that conjures the tangible aura of their post-punk forebears as filtered through a lens of contemporary lo-fi bedroom pop. Having spent the intervening years patiently polishing their sound across Melbourne and their adopted home of London, Accelerator poses as a seamless continuation of their debut EP’s arc. It finds HighSchool continuing to hone their combination of low-slung instrumentation and propulsive rhythm sections with hook-replete pop nous and evocative layers of spectral, saturnine atmosphere.

Produced by rising London producer Finn Billingham, mixed by GRAMMY-winning engineer Philippe Weiss (Earl Sweatshirt, Nas, Drake) and mastered by Blur and Depeche Mode producer Ben Hillier, Accelerator pulls effortlessly from the gamut of indie rock history, from shoegaze and dream-pop to new wave, slowcore, jangle pop, slacker rock, art pop and beyond.

Awash in reverb and spacious production, latest single ‘Doesn’t Matter’ feels like peering into the window of heartbreak’s bedroom - lovelorn, enigmatic and intensely private, yet indescribably alluring nonetheless. Of the track, the band share that “‘Doesn’t Matter’ is a song about unrequited love. It’s about your beloved being unaware or uncaring of your affection and deep desire for them. It’s about longing and the places your imagination takes you when you yearn for someone”.

Unfurling with steady, driving percussion, loping bass and a soaring synth line, ‘Doesn’t Matter’ is carried by a chiming, morning-crisp guitar riff that lilts with just a hint of melancholy. Contrasting lead singer Rory Trobbiani’s faraway yet impassioned vocal delivery with a rich vein of melodicism, it proves slyly, almost impossibly infectious beneath shifting layers of fog and shadow.

Directed by Henry Gosper and self-produced by the band, the accompanying ‘Doesn’t Matter’ video provides yet another surreal, distorted glimpse into HighSchool’s aesthetic universe. They share that “The video was shot over two days at three separate locations in and around the outskirts of Melbourne. We were trying to capture a modern Southern Gothic atmosphere with an Australian flair, taking inspiration from classic Australian Gothic literature and film as well as crime stoppers adverts and the T.V. programs like Highway Patrol”.

The announcement of their second EP comes right as the band prepare to kick off their headline Australian tour. Presented by Frontier Touring, the run sees HighSchool playing two dates across the back half of this week, including a stop at The Night Cat in their hometown of Melbourne, as well as a long-awaited debut headline Sydney show at The Lansdowne. Following that, the duo will then jet off for a headline tour of Japan, followed by their appearance at SXSW Austin 2024 and a further USA tour supporting Provoker.