Scars has been somewhat of a different journey for the Basement Jaxx boys, a “dark sombre journey” in fact declares member Felix Buxton. While the album does have its subdued moments, this dark and sombre side is barely evident, “When we got to the end of it, we realised we kinda wanted it to be light, we were conscious that we wanted it to be bright. Especially with tracks like Raindrops, it’s like the heavens opened and it was the end of all the pain” explains Buxton.

Just as other Basement Jaxx member Simon Radcliff mentioned in an interview with ITM late last year, fans will soon be able to get their hands on even more new Basement Jaxx material when Zephyr, the complimentary follow-up to Scars, is released in January or February this year. “In a way it’s Scars part 2” tells Felix, “It’s the calm after the storm of Scars, it’s the healing part”. With Scars originally intended as a double album, Felix explains in the end it worked better as two albums, citing the fact that “some of the material was a bit bogged down and heavy” as the rationale.

So what should we expect from Zephyr? “It’s a bit more melancholy, it’s like Basement Jaxx with a dimmer switch on it. You’d listen to Scars when you’re off to do something and Zephyr is what you listen to when you get home. It’s more personal to me, you’d listen to it by yourself.”

Very conscious that Scars would be their 5th album, at first they wanted to take it in a different direction. “Now we notice people who are taking our sound, and that’s how the world works. Which is great. But you gotta keep 3 steps ahead, or take steps in a different direction”. As for the style of the album, “there’s tracks that come from every album. It’s a summation. It wasn’t til we got towards the end that we realised we wanted some of it the same.”

Listening to tracks like Twirk you can definitely pick up that Kish Kash type of vibe, however there’s a wide variety of new and old influences to be heard. “I’m a massive form of Mozart, I’ve been meaning to do something with his music for ages.” Which is what you first hear when the title track Scars opens the album. Then of course, there’s the collaboration with the ever infamous and controversial Yoko Ono, who co-wrote the track We March On. “I was definitely interested in her views of the world. She’s has her scars too, and she’s still stayed such a positive woman. I wanted to gain some wisdom from her”.

With 4 artist albums and a number of compilations and mix albums already under their belt Basement Jaxx was this time determined to take a different path to the electronic music scene of the last few years. This was achieved by incorporating more live instrumentation and samples into the album, “Electronic music has gone through a dull phase the last few years which it’s only recovering from now. It’s hard to make something sound more interesting or different if you’re only using two sounds.”

Moving from the studio to the stage, Basement Jaxx are to grace us with their presence a little sooner than expected, bringing their show to the Good Vibrations Festivals next month. Having only been in Australia just last year for the Future Music Festival tour, where they previewed tracks off Scars, Basement Jaxx were originally unsure if they would re-tour the album down under, citing exhausted from the gruelling album making process and a hectic schedule which involved “going to 2 different countries every weekend. And been back home for 2 days in between, and having to go into the studio for those 2 days”. Despite this, Simon did promise ITM last year that “If we’re wanted enough we’ll definitely come”.

What will Basement Jaxx be bringing to the table at Good Vibes? “Probably 11 of us or so on stage or so” tells Felix, “There will be, Scars material, old material, and even some other new bits. Everyone loves going to Australia, you’ve got good crowds there, you’ve got great vibes and good weather”. Clearly excited about the trip Felix also told us, ‘The last time we were here for Future Music we tested out a few tracks and people loved it, so it will be good to see the reaction now people know the music.”

So there you have it. An excuse to buy two albums and a ticket to a great festival. If you loved these guys at Future Music last year, you’re going to be spoilt again this year at Good Vibes!

For all your Good Vibrations needs, check out ITM’s Festival Page for loads of news, interviews and more. National dates below…

Sat 13 Feb – Centennial Park, Sydney
Sun 14 Feb – Claremont Showground, Perth
Sat 20 Feb – Parklands Showgrounds, Gold Coast
Sun 21 Feb – The Nursery, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne