Sydney outfit Decoder Ring are back once again with another stunning offering in the form of the exceptional Fractions, their third studio album to date. There’s no accompanying film this time, just a thrilling mix of emotions and images played out by your very own imagination upon listening. Semone Maksimovic had a chance to catch up with keyboardist, guitar and synth maestro Matt FitzGerald to talk about Decoder Ring’s last amazing year and the new album and the super speedy process that brought the band here on the verge of release again today.

Since their early days, Decoder Ring have been seen as something special on the Australian scene, scoring festival slots on Homebake, BDO, Livid almost straight away, their gig list then further stretched to some killer international supports, where they warmed stages for the likes of Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Trans Am, Labradford and Pan American. It was while the band were touring nationally with fellow-Sydney genre-fusers Gerling, that they managed to catch the eye of an up and coming filmaker Kate Shortland, who was still relatively unknown. She liked what she saw and heard from the band’s show so much, that she took an aftershow opportunity to approach the guys about doing a score for a project she was working on ‘Somersault’. And the rest is what most would call history. “It was a pleasant surprise, that became even more pleasant when we read the script and saw what we were working with. Kate was such a wonderful spirited person to collaborate with, we had a magical time working on Somersault.”

The whole process was a whirlwind that lasted from December 2003 and was complete by January 2004, the process struck a chord with the band, who loved the intensity of working on a tight deadline and capturing and releasing the sound as it was still fresh and not overworked or over-thought too much. So when faced with the prospect of doing another filmscore for Jewboy (a short feature film that just recently aired at Cannes and the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals), they worked under the same aesthetic and decided that’s how they work best. So after going into the studio and writing a fresh set especially for the Big Day Out this year, which they decided to keep part of for their third studio album. “It was a crazy half arsed idea, cause we decided to write all new music and then realised that we had about three weeks to do it, by the time we finished doing the film” laughs Matt on the craziness of the band’s plan.

It was when they returned from the BDO shows that Decoder Ring felt on and ready to start work on their new album, so they locked themselves away to write some more and rehearse, before booking into The Grove Studios on the Central Coast, where they had a great time working on the score for Somersault. “We enjoy just writing really quickly and being spontaneous, we just want to capture that live feeling on record, but at the same time we don’t want it to sound straight up and down either. It’s always a great challenge to move quickly, because Decoder Ring as a band is always changing sound-wise, it’s something that we thought was important, cause what we’re doing is exciting and we wanted to make sure that we could capture it. It has a combination of what we’ve done in the past as a band, but it also has parts of stuff that we’ve done for film as well, so on Fractions it all comes together to create the whole Decoder Ring experience for the first time.”

The quiet and lush natural surrounds of The Grove managed to edge out any distractions and bring the band together (maybe a little too closely for some) perfectly for the process “There was the great combination of being able to record for ridiculously long days and then have a few beers and relax country style or whatever, then fall asleep hearing eachother snoring, kick eachother. And then being able to wake up to do it all again the next day. When you’re stuck in a small space together and separated from everything else, so you just get lost in whatever you’re doing, which is what we always try and do.”

The journey in which enfolds from Fractions is one of highs and lows, light and darkness, but unlike what other bands that have come before them have been able to achieve. They’ve managed to capture the shades of grey in between, much like a film does, but without any other accompanying imagery but your own. It’s a new sound, but one that’s still fabulously Decoder Ring at the same time. It takes the more ‘band’ based tracks with guest vocalists Ollie Browne (Art of Fighting) and new fulltime member Lenka (who first appeared on the Somersault foray) and brings them together with their intense filmic climaxes to make a sweet, picturesque journey into your soul. Which is what the band have always aimed for with their visual aid Simon K at their live shows, but Fractions manages to bring it to your lounge room, your bathroom, your car or the dancefloor with a glistening clarity.

With a bigger, fuller experience to boast the Decoder Ring kids are preparing to take it to the streets, as they start their national tour throughout October, taking new kids on the scene Expatriate (whom the band have just finished remixing) out on the road with them. It’s sure to be an experience to behold in both sight, sound and all that lies between the two, so make sure you get along to one of the shows for a night you won’t soon forget.

Decoder Ring plays Stonefest at UC this Friday. Check the whatson for more details.