Sydney's Infinity Broke release first single, 'Death of a Tourist' from their new album, 'Your Dream My Jail'
Photo by Mark Moldre
2021 is the year of album number three for Jamie Hutchings and Infinity Broke. Following ‘River Mirrors’ (2014) and ‘Before Before’ (2015), ‘Your Dream My Jail’ is being readied for release in the coming months on the back of the current crowdfunding campaign which runs until May 13th.
The album's first single, 'Death of a Tourist', which premiered on Backseat Mafia and 2ser's The Band Next Door, is now available for radio and review at the links above and it finds the band again seeking and succeeding in marrying song-craft with dark and fascinating rhythmic intensity and percussive detail. The song rides a sonic guided tour through deconstructionist post-punk and industrial/post-rock tapestries. The tension of the wire-taut and serrated guitar, alongside the purposeful and insistent bass, and drums that switch from chaotic to propulsive (reminiscent of Bluebottle Kiss' 'Gangsterland') all drive Hutchings' song to its tragic conclusion as he sings of flat batteries, signposts and bullbars.
As Hutchings explains, 'Death of a Tourist' was written during a stint as a voluntary teacher in Colombia, back in 2016. "My ear was cocked to the exotic and percussive clatter of the street music. I was messing about with ad hoc tunings on a cheap parlour guitar and reading a lot. One of the books was a collection of short stories by Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai. It featured a tale concerning an awkward, overheated, and ill-prepared middle-aged tourist who travels to a renowned ancient site. He stumbles about in a frenzy; stressed and disconnected, eventually meeting an unfortunate end. It’s a black comedy written in the author"s inimitable apocalyptic style and I thought…this could me!'"
In the grand and often neglected tradition of B-sides, Infinity Broke have also released the disorienting and imagined avant-garde soundtrack that is 'Before Before' and the sublime and woozy five minute sway of 'Two Wires', featuring original drummer Jared Harrison.
Following nearly 15 years and six albums with Bluebottle Kiss and then his first three solo albums, Jamie re-entered the full band fray of noise, dissonance and melody with Infinity Broke, also featuring his brother Scott Hutchings on aux drums/percussion and guitar, Reuben Wills on bass and Jared Harrison (BBK, Peabody, Restless Leg) on drums. Their first two albums chronicled the band's exploration of rhythm, tone, texture and the dynamic interplay between guitars and percussion. Songs rose to the surface and then dissolved into the sonic fabric of the music the quartet composed – a sublime balancing act of harmony and abrasion.
Exhilarating local live shows that showcased the diversity of the band's sound, from noisy rock to exercises in Krautrock-influenced endurance and repetition saw them also accept an invitation to perform at the Binic Folk Blues Festival in France in 2014 and 2018.
Changes have occured within the Infinity Broke camp since the release of ‘Before Before’ with Jared amicably leaving the band. "He had to depart our ranks due to some serious back issues and having too many balls in the air. He remains part of the IB family," explains Jamie. As a result, Scott has shifted to drums as well as weighing in on two co-writes on guitar. The band are set to re-emerge on stage with their new percussionist Jonas Tay giving full range to their kinetic sound.
From the soil of South America to the surrounds of a Marrickville studio and the seasoned ears of Tim Whitten (The Necks, Crow, Underground Lovers, Bluebottle Kiss), this is just the latest fascinating chapter in the musical journey of Jamie Hutchings and his collaborators.