It’s no surprise that Seabellies do not hail from one of Australia’s capital cities, they are instead a product of a coastal, industrial town just north of Sydney called Newcastle. No matter from where in the world, Manchester to Glasgow, Detroit to Jersey, the music of these satellite towns tells a different story to any scene. Unaffected, these artists dance to their own rhythm. The six members of Seabellies are all multi-instrumentalists, and each member carries their talent, ideas and wonder into their songs.  

 

Of an ocean interrupted by the heavy steal of commerce, Trent Grenell, Steph Setz, Sean Kelleher, Kyle Grenell and Antony Martin channel their home.  Coal and earth side-by-side with dramatic coastal landscapes their music reflects a long, open, road trip. 

 

The Seabellies are close. Two brothers, all lifelong friends, inseparable.. In an era of the quick-fix the chronology of their debut album “By Limbo Lake” was formed naturally and may seem extraordinary. 

 

Their first official release was November 2007’s a self-released EP “Wave Your Fingers To Make The Winters’ which hoisted upon the band the accolade of inaugural Garage To V winners - the band sharing stages with the likes of Beck on the V Festival tour. 

 

Seabellies have undergone some changes since then, including fine-tuning their energetic live set and unique sound.  After a long and focussed preparation, Seabellies have unleashed their debut album, By Limbo Lake, and as witnessed by the soaring, opening notes of this stunning debut, they have won the hearts and minds for good this time.

 

Early shows had established the group as an ambitious, if slightly shambolic, indie rock band with complex song structures and diverse instrumentation. After their first rush of publicity in 2007, Seabellies decided to smooth off some of the rough edges that were obscuring their sound. 

 

The band spent most of 2008, writing new material, refining their existing tracks and planning their next move. Grenell says, “in the beginning we were very fresh and new to it all, but we knew it was important not to rush.” 

 

The Seabellies took two years to record their debut album but were not silent during this time. They released four digital singles, all recorded in different studios with different producers. The band’s aim was to really understand the recording process and become familiar with working in a studio, so they knew how they wanted to approach recording their debut long-player. Astoundingly these four studio ‘experiments’ all garnered full rotation airplay on Triple J and national community radio stations; and in October 2008, they played the CMJ Music Marathon in New York to critical acclaim, sharing the stage with Mùm, Veils, and Passion Pit. Finally, in May 2009, writing and pre-production fine-tuned on the road, they entered Albert Studios in Sydney to lay down tracks for By Limbo Lake.

 

The album sessions blew out to seven weeks as the band attempted to capture all their inspiration on tape. Veteran Australian producer Wayne Connolly manned the boards: “He controlled the chaos,” says Grenell. “We had a lot of ideas, and a lot of instruments, he streamlined it all.” As Wayne is a fellow songwriter, “he always looks for true essence of the song and helped capture our raw elements on the record.”

 

The finished album manages to embody everything that makes Seabellies a captivating band: it’s full of rich melodies, layered instrumentation and a restless energy that propels the listener forward. Strings, keyboards and array of instruments add depth and character, and Grenell’s voice soars above it all – comforting at times, melancholy at others. It has been noted that the cinematic beauty of By Limbo Lake might be reminiscent of what a modern day Triffids album might sound like circa 2010.