Spacey Jane aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. When Cosmopolitan Australia caught up with the band — made up of lead vocalist and guitarist Caleb Harper, drummer Kieran Lama, guitarist Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu and bassist Peppa Lane — back in January, they’d already announced the release of their third album. They also sold out shows across Australia and the US in minutes, and took out the 18th spot in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2024 with their sole entry from the year, the single “One Bad Day.”
It’s shaping up to be a bumper year indeed. If their debut studio album, Sunlight, put them on the map, and their second, Here Comes Everybody, made fans fall in love, their brand-new third record, If That Makes Sense, cements the Perth-born band as bona fide Australian superstars and one of our most exciting musical exports.
"I feel a lot more separate from any of the influences from days gone by that we’d always pull out"
Despite the buzz that surrounds them, the euphonious Aussie ensemble is now embracing an era of introspection. In fact, Spacey Jane’s journey so far has brought them to a place where external influences no longer play a big role in their music. “We never really had big inspirations or were like, ‘Oh, we love this artist and we’re gonna model the record of this in a certain way,’” Caleb says of their latest album. Kieran agrees. “I feel a lot more separate from any of the influences from days gone by that we’d always pull out. Like, we’ve listened to lots of Kings of Leon and The Strokes and all these influences are always there, but it’s much less these days.”
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Taking a leap of faith, the band are honing their craft and have remodelled their perception of what it means to make art subjectively. “Everything feels a bit more intentional now, and we’re a lot better at our instruments [than we used to be],” Ashton says. Caleb adds, ”Everything is way tighter and the sounds are bigger … there are more low mids in everything. There’s not as much jangle, there’s not as much lo-fi. It’s not as grungy. Even “All the Noise” — which is hectic — feels full and solid and big.”
Caleb’s trademark mode of candid lyricism and vulnerability is what sets Spacey Jane apart from other bands in their indie-rock cohort. On If That Makes Sense, the multi-talented songwriter reflects on how the past few years have shaped the future, weaving his experiences of heartbreak and loss into universal anthems that capture the highs and lows of being in your twenties. “The album was written and recorded entirely in LA. So, it’s a record that is very much inspired by this lack of belonging, just trying to figure out who you are without the framework of friends and family — all these things that you’ve understood and built over a decade and whatever place [you] have lived [since] turning 18,” Caleb says.
"it’s a record that is very much inspired by this lack of belonging, just trying to figure out who you are without the framework of friends and family"
Across the album — but particularly on “All the Noise,” the first single — Caleb draws from the reality of his parents’ union and separation, opening up about how the album “tracks the demise of a relationship and then sort of reflects [on] that and growing up.” The new songs joining their impressive musical repertoire don’t follow a rigid narrative, nor are any of the songs closed to individual interpretation. “With this album, we wanted people to be able to listen back again and again and always hear new things,” says Peppa. ”There’s a lot of little layers and ear candy.”
As for where the band currently stands in the realm of music and mastery, they stay true to one belief: ”We never want to stay in one place … we want to change, always.”
‘If That Makes Sense’ is out now.
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