Features Spectrals: ‘I Was Hiding Behind Effects’

There’s being a slacker out of laziness and then there’s being a slacker purely for the cool-by-association aesthetic. Louis Jones – or more specifically, the band he masterminds, Spectrals – falls into neither of these categories. It’s abundantly clear that’s he’s poured a lot of effort and a hell of a lot of heart into his new record, ‘Sob Story’.

“I’ve tried to be less obscure in terms of the lyrics,” he says on the progression from his debut, ‘Bad Penny’. The first single to drop from ‘Sob Story’, ‘Milky Way’ is a testament to that: it’s laced with down-to-earth, dejected phrases like ‘she couldn’t be you if she tried’ and ‘I know you think a lot because I think a lot when I’m not with you’. While it’s along the same down-in-the-dumps lines we’ve come to expect, Jones explains that it’s the best way to get his point across.

“I think when people are a bit more clear and less fussy with the lyrics, it’s a little bit braver,” he says. “I was hiding behind effects on the vocals, and I think maybe hiding things in wordplay and metaphors. Things that I thought were clever and funny. But I think this time I was trying to say exactly what I meant.”



When you first start playing ‘Milky Way’, the difference is clear: the drums are sharp and in focus; there’s a more concise atmosphere to the guitar tones and Louis’ croon is both palpable and serene – it’s almost like listening to a kid growing up and fully realising his ambitions.

“We used really nice microphones and tried to have it sound like me singing rather than something that’s played around with,” he explains on this newfound clarity. “With the last record I’d never done anything before that I felt I did well, and I got really protective over what I thought was my sound. As I’ve gone on, I’ve realised that the things I was protective about weren’t things I needed to be worrying about.”

Feeling a lot prouder of his newer material has, in turn, allowed him to stop craving the certain sonic aesthetic of his previous release, in favour of his new material simply sounding good: “I think if you’re proud of something, you want it to sound as good as it can sound, you know? I didn’t want to be slack with it and I wasn’t holding on to some kind of value like D.I.Y. or lo-fi.”



Spectrals’ new album ‘Sob Story’ will be released on 3rd June via Wichita.

Taken from the June 2013 issue of DIY, available now. For more details click here.