“Cartoon Darkness is about climate crisis, war, AI, tip-toeing on the eggshells of politics, and people
feeling like they’re helping by having a voice online when we’re all just feeding the data beast of Big
Tech, our modern day god. It’s about the fact that our generation is spoon-fed information. We look
like adults, but we’re children forever cocooned in a shell. We’re all passively gulping up distractions
that don’t even cause pleasure, sensation or joy, they just cause numbness.
“Everything is such hard work, everything is heartbreaking, but everything is beautiful. I want to
celebrate. I want to put my phone down and see someone’s facial expression change with what they
say. I want to people-watch. I want to see if there are bugs where I walk, but I don’t see them. I also
want the fantasy and the escapism. I want to lean into hedonism, I want to feel alive, while
acknowledging the dystopia and chaos unfolding around me.
“Cartoon Darkness is driving head first into the unknown, into this looming sketch of the future that
feels terrible, but doesn’t even exist yet. A childlike darkness. I don’t want to meet the devil half-way
and mourn what we have right now. The future is cartoon, the prescription is dark, but it’s novelty. It’s
just a joke. It’s fun.” – Amy Taylor, Amyl and The Sniffers
In the eight years since Amyl and The Sniffers came together in Melbourne’s sticky pub-rock scene,
they have become masters of balancing power and playfulness. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt – 2019’s self-titled debut and 2021’s visceral Comfort To Me – vocalist Amy Taylor, guitarist Declan Mehrtens, bassist Gus Romer and drummer Bryce Wilson have achieved something unique and remarkable. They are unmistakably “Aussie”, down-to-earth and true to their roots. They are also one of the most exciting young rock bands on the planet.
Since the release of Comfort to Me, the band has seen their horizons broaden exponentially in every
way. And it’s this attitude – bigger, brighter, smarter, sharper – that’s fuelling their third album,
Cartoon Darkness. Recorded with producer Nick Launay at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios in Los
Angeles, on the same desk that captured Nirvana’s Nevermind and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, the
latest Amyl offering is full of surprises. Musically, Mehrtens, Romer and Wilson have written The
Sniffers’ most diverse album yet.
Throughout Cartoon Darkness, Taylor delves into topics that wrangle with ideas of self and the
outside world including the fight it takes not to minimise and shrink yourself in the face of it all. “Where we’re from, we’ve achieved a lot, and people can be really uncomfortable with that. Especially because I’m a woman it’s like you can’t be proud of yourself and you can’t be loud. I’m a loud person – always have been, always will be – and I’ve had to quiet myself down in my dress and in my mannerisms because it was getting attention that was mainly negative. I don’t wanna pretend that I haven’t achieved a lot. I don’t wanna pretend I haven’t been successful. I don’t wanna pretend I don’t want to achieve more and dream as big as possible and see how far I can take this, because I do.”
Across the album there is anger, but there is also a huge capacity for positivity. One side of the band, says Mehrtens, is necessary for the other. “Maybe a misconception about heavier genres is that there’s a lot of negativity, but Amy has such a healthy relationship with anger where it’s therapeutic and it means she has so much space for joy at the same time,” he says. Cartoon Darkness might be rooted in the “dark and bizarre, dystopian” modern world but, like its title and like its authors, it’s also committed to silliness and fun; to embracing life as fully as possible.
“If someone’s having a shit day at work, then I hope the album might just reignite that little flame inside them that makes them stand up a bit taller,” says Taylor. “The world is such a cruel and unforgiving place; so many people are down and it’s been such a crazy time. But I don’t think it’s an ugly place, I think it’s joyous. It’s a playground, and that’s why we ache for it. I just really want to make something that’s… I can’t think of a better word…that’s good. I don’t wanna take the piss and just put out trash. I want it to be thoughtful and for it to be meaningful to people in whatever capacity it can be, even if it’s just fun.”
Cartoon Darkness doesn’t have a neat and tidy narrative. It’s a big, complicated, messy, funny and
sometimes deeply felt and serious album. There is no black or white, only colour and shadows.
Release: October 25th, 2024, B2B / Virgin Music Australia
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