Babe Rainbow discuss fourth album ‘Changing Colours’
The Aussie psych-rockers discuss their fourth album and how the surprise collaboration with Jaden happened
Photo: Maclay Heriot
I first fell in love with the Australian psych-rock outfit when I heard their 2015 release Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest. I’d just started to discover modern funk-psych sounds and they were a huge catalyst for the obsession that followed. Not every band can transport you to a tranquil place where you’re in complete zen mode, but it’s second nature to these guys.
There’s something special about Australian surf-cum-psych-rock. What’s in the water over there that makes bands like Babe Rainbow so addictive? Some of the best new bands are coming out of Australia and I’m all for it.
On the fourth LP Changing Colours they keep their signature chill sound — a sound so eloquent and mesmerising.
Songs like California, Thinking Like a River and Your Imagination would all make perfect lullabies. That is, of course, until the latter’s surprising addition of Jaden’s vocals encapsulates the track, making it a little less relaxing but managing to sound at home alongside the band’s signature sound. Elliot O’Reilly tells us that this collaboration wasn’t planned but much rather happened due to some simple “online chitty-chat”. He notes that they “had the song in mind and Jaden dissolved any obstacles” by creating a “cool freestyle” on the track.
The album showcases their upbeat and unique side with electrifying offerings in the form of Ready for Tomorrow and Rainbow Rock — the track that Elliot is looking forward to performing the most because of its “jungle jive” sound. This funky side is one many of their fans fell in love with; a side that sees them at their carefree and collectively cool selves, and a side we can only admire from the other side of the Earth.
Talking about the inspiration that led them to form back in 2014, Elliot recalls that before he’d even discovered his love for music he would “see a photo of The Beatles in a newspaper and tear it out”. Notably, they’ve clearly been heavily influenced by The Beach Boys and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band era — the psychedelic, vintage sounds evident throughout their discography.
Particularly on Curl Free is this influence noticeable; it’s refreshing to see a modern band reworking the sounds of the 60s with ease and making it seem so effortless.
Although the titular track is simple, it strikes all the right chords and is Babe Rainbow filling their album with three minutes of a sweet, trickling instrumental that’s a nice change of pace. Out of the entire album, this particular track was a favourite of theirs to records and Elliot describes it as being “nothing complicated and really easy to accomplish. Sometimes songs pop out from behind the door. You just have to leave it a little open”.
If someone asked me to show them just one Babe Rainbow track, I’d suggest Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest for its sheer bizarre context and how it perfectly sums up what an acid trip would sound like. Elliot, on the other hand, would play a first-time listener Love Forever, a track off the same self-titled 2015 EP, as it “hangs on the periphery of 60s-90s-now sound”.
Having honed their classic psych-rock sound, they’re not planning to stop there as Elliot notes there are “always more instruments and genres to discover, and a few more collabs down the track”. Perhaps on the fifth record will we hear this further experimentation.
I couldn’t conduct this interview without asking the question most of us have probably been asked at some point in our lives: which musician would you switch places with for a day? Interestingly, his is Michael Hutchence, who was the lead singer of Aussie band INXS. He notes that the period of their popularity was a huge vibe — despite the 80s being not that long ago.
And, if you’re wondering what he’s spinning at the minute, it’s everyone and their dad’s favourite band Simon & Garfunkel, and Elliot is a huge fan of hearing people “singing in the street or on the beach” but traditional music will always be his favourite.
