How insane is it that six freakin’ years have passed since Gotye released his last album (the earth-shattering Making Mirrors) and topped global charts with his Kimbra collab ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’?
Just nuts.
But after such a long wait, it looks like the LP’s long-awaited follow-up isn’t too far off, with the artist otherwise known as Wally de Backer telling News Corp that it could be released “this year”.
“I know there’s fans who’d love to hear new music,” he says, speaking from New York where he’s balls deep into the recording process of his fourth LP. “Sometimes I wish I could be more prolific and finish things I was proud of and put them out more regularly. But it is what it is. At some point I realise ‘OK, this is a record’ or this is becoming the project I’ve been trying to make and it takes the time it takes.”
“Usually the pressure feels the most intense internally,” he continues. “These days you could outline what the ideal commercial timeline would be to put out a single or an album after you’ve had some success to stay on the scene. I know I’m not able to make good music while trying to work on that timeline.”
Since wrapping touring for Making Mirrors in 2013, Wally has taken a big break from being Gotye, instead satisfying his musical thirst with his rock band The Basics, as well as lending his voice to songs by Bibio and, most recently, The Nightgame (the new project from ex-Boys Like Girls pop-punker Martin Johnson).
“I don’t know if I come off the back of any record and touring and decide ‘Yes, I’m moving straight into making new music for that project’,” he says. “Over time you make music and realise what project it’s for. It took me a while to find a direction for the stuff I’ve been doing for the next Gotye project.”
As for that direction, it seems Gotye has held true to his 2015 assertions that he wanted to created a new album dedicated to electronic music pioneers.
“I’ve been doing a lot of archival work and research into the history of electronic music and electronic musical instruments, especially from earlier parts of the 20th century towards the end of the last century,” he explains. “That’s guiding a lot of the songs and projects around the record, it’s feeding into my original songs.
“Now I’ve got a direction it’s a lot of stuff to finish. I hope I can have some new stuff out before the end of the year.”
Not just somebody that we used to know, after all then.
