Local Authority began as an ambient bedroom project by Jacque McGill, and later evolved into a fully fledged band, an indie rock variant which draws from both post punk and shoegaze in equal measures, to come out as something dark and ethereal in sound, and rather wistful in essence.
The band released their debut album, Negative Space, in 2019 on 4000 Records, which the now follow with new single, Forever, For Now, a dreamlike cut which overflows with melancholy and fuzz, and introduces new member, Kailan O’Dell.
"In the time around the release of our debut record Negative Space," says guitarist and vocalist, Jacque McGill, "we spent a lot of time tinkering and re-working our live sound. Within the band we found ourselves swapping out our instruments and roles a lot of the time, bass would become synth, synth would become guitar, guitar would cease to exist and so forth. After every show we would go back and reassess everything we had done previously and re-craft our sound before our next show, we were always trying to bring the distinct cold and dreamy sound we had crafted so meticulously on our record into the live realm. After taking a break in 2020 we returned to writing in what I think is our strongest layout of the band yet, and our new song Forever, For Now is a testament to that.
"What’s exciting about the new single is that while our debut record was focused on writing from old demos I’d made, Forever For Now, was written entirely in a collaborative sense from live practices. Erica breathes new life into the band in her new role on bass guitar and vocals we wrote together. Kailan lends his own identity to the dream pop subtleties he lays down on keyboards. I’ve even completely overhauled a new guitar rig as a way to highlight our multi-textured guitar sound. It’s a creative and exciting time for us as a band."
Local Authority are Jacque McGill, Erica Sunnex, Lachlan Andrews and Kailan O’Dell.
Band photo by Henri Cash-Finlay