A Quick Q&A With The Orielles

‘Disco Volador’ sees the Halifax three-piece push their sonic boundaries, as the band take us on a journey through outer space. We’re whisked away beyond the time-continuum through a combination of samba sounds and heavy pop-influenced hooks. The new album’s literal translation from Spanish means flying disc but Esme explains that “everyone experiences things differently,” she suggests that “Disco Volador could be a frisbee, a UFO, an alien nightclub or how you feel when you fly; what happens to your body physically or that euphoric buzz from a great party.”

Written and recorded in just 12 months, the album captures the fast-paced nature of the band – they work quickly but quality never suffers. Returning to Stockport’s Eve studios, they spent time cooking, swimming and walking the hills; Henry, Sid and Esme also reunited with long-time collaborator and beat-maker, Marta Salogni.

Whilst we best not forget the oh-so-adored studio cat, Adam, who has become a permanent fixture of The Orielles’ recording process.

We caught up with the gang just after their short-spell in New York City as part of a shortened U.S. tour...

So you guys have recently released your new album ‘Disco Volador’, it’s built around the concept of “boogie to space, space to boogie”. Where did the idea come from?

It basically came from us being interested in the notion of tension and dissipation of tension in art and this release being mirrored through dancing to music and enjoying music in a live setting. We initially had the idea to split the record, with the A-side being the ‘boogie to space’ side, so disco, funky grooves to bop to, then the B-side being more esoteric and soundtrack inspired. We then released that pretty much all of the songs on the record have certain elements of both!

You wrote and recorded the album in a twelve-month, do you guys work fast together?

I guess so! We wrote the majority of these songs whilst we were on the road touring our first record. We all definitely get inspired a lot when we’re out on the road and playing together every night, meeting new people and sharing music. We then demoed it over a few weeks in spring 2019 and recorded it properly in summer in Manchester! I guess we’re pretty inpatient when it comes to stuff like this, once we’re definitely happy with something, we are keen to get it out so other people can hear it and hopefully enjoy it and connect to it in some way.

You returned to Eve Studios in Stockport to record Disco Volador? Was it nice to be back in familiar surroundings? We also heard that you got pretty fond of the studio cat...

It’s always nice to work there and yes Adam the cat is an angel! We’re convinced he was a producer or musician in his past life as he loves spending time in the control room while we’re working on and mixing songs. Eve Studios is such a chill place in which we certainly feel at home. We’d like to think we’re part of the little family in some way now. The studio always sparks a lot of creativity too. It’s just outside of Manchester, but doesn’t feel as though you’re in a city at all. It’s very peaceful and secluded, we can work late into the night without noise restrictions which is a bonus as we start to get weird with it after a certain time of day.

You guys teamed up with the immensely talented Raissa Pardini for the album artwork, how did this come about - did you approach her?

Raissa made us a tour poster last year for our tour with Glasgow band, Lylo. Since then we stayed in touch and we have loved her work for ages! She has a very distinct style that I think really suits us and we knew that she would understand our references in the best and most creative way possible. We didn’t really need to give her much guidance at all, she was totally on board with the vibe and helped us create exactly what we had in mind. She rocks!

You recently completed your UK tour, we were lucky enough to catch the Manchester show! How was it for you guys? Do you enjoy being on the road?

We loved the Manchester show, it was such a special time for us being in a venue we have attended many times as gig-goers. Was fun having our friends join us on stage as well as two cracking supports too! Yeah we absolutely love being on the road and feel at our most free. Getting to travel with friends and create memories is so important and also being able to perform songs that mean a lot to us is also great.