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Luxury Bat is the new album from Cold Hands Warm Heart, a Naarm-based collective linked to Eastmint, a local artist-run studio, event space and label. The album's six tracks blend structured songwriting with improvisation to create fluid, open-ended soundscapes connected to the natural world.

In a recent interview with Jazz Feldy of Good Fortune, Genevieve Fry of the group explained: "I like to think of us as quite a slow band... things evolve in their own time." Compositions grow gradually, sometimes over years, with Fry bringing initial lyrics and chordal structure to the group before they collectively expand on them.

The recordings were made over three days at Super Melody World, a studio set in a 19th-century schoolhouse within the Macedon Ranges. Surrounded by nature, Genevieve along with Georgia Harvey, Esala Liyanage, and Travis John tracked these new songs, capturing them primarily in single live takes.

Field recordings further ground the album to place. Cicadas and frogs heard during hikes along Mount Tarangawa and Mount Murul, for instance, would later appear on Quartz. Blue whale vocalizations also feature - sounds originally gathered for artist and researcher Jessie Boylan's project The Smallest Measure which looks at climate change impacts in the Antarctic.

During their interview on Good Fortune, Cold Hands Warm Heart spoke more of their love for quiet, atmospheric music, like André 3000's recent entry to the genre: New Blue Sun. Luxury Bat shares the same approach and philosophy, with songs ranging from 7 to 12 minutes. Together they form a deep listening experience, from tranquil passages to shimmering crescendos.

For the chance to win a vinyl copy of this week's Album Of The Week, Triple R subscribers can enter here before Sunday 10 December 2023. We have a prize policy of 1 album per subscriber per month so we can share the love and make it fair for all!