Calling all doomsday preppers, the soundtrack for the end of the world is here. Lachlan X. Morris is Newcastle’s self-proclaimed ‘psychedelic dad-rock’ artist and today presents you his sophomore album Premeditations, a bundle of glaring guitars and warbling synths taking us straight to our demise.

Listen to Premeditations here. Lachlan X Morris is proudly sharing the stage with Cloud Control and Last Dinosaurs at Bitter n Twisted Beer Festival November 4th. For more information see here. Lachlan X. Morris will be taking Premeditations on the road this November.

Premeditations is 70s psychedelic, prog-rock inspired and chocked to the brink with big, emotional guitars, complex instrumentation and party anthem hooks. The 10 tracks question our overruling impulses and obsession with technology, and how that is interfering with genuine human connection. The album takes us on a journey and challenges us to question what we know about how we live…and might just have hidden a satanic message in reversed tracks.

Opening with inquisitive picking guitars, first single ‘Turpentine’ explores romance and relationships in a digital age and not knowing who you are sharing yourself with. Charging forth with a solid rock fundaments and solid guitar stabs create a thoughtful and purpose filled rock track.

Second single ‘Stray Dog’ fuses energetic drums, classic rock formations and psychedelic synth lines to create an immersive listening experience, and an instrumental outro destined to leave you in a lucid state. ‘Stray Dog’ premiered on Speaker TV, boasted plays on triple j Unearthed radio and was added to rotation on FBi Radio.

Title track ‘Premeditations’ is front row centre on the album. The pacing drums and pulsing bass drive the track right into the middle of the dancefloor. Trickled with colourful synth lines ‘Premeditations’ is a sure dancefloor anthem. ‘Sun Shedding’ is a sweet instrumental overture that makes your head involuntary sway side to side, taking elements of the album and perfectly introducing the listener into the work. ‘1st World Bros’ opens confidently with epic guitars riffs, giving off a sense of righteous purpose, and challenges the selfish, toxic relationships and greed.

Running on its grooving bass, ‘Body N Soul’ is about finding life’s greatest pleasures through the simplest things and living within your means. ‘Bloodhounds’ changes pace with romantic lines borrowed from jazz and vocals phrasing paying homage to classic blues. The feel of the track plays a clever juxtaposition to the meaning behind the track, which explores paranoia and dismissing non-constructive opinions.

‘Hands in Your Pocket’ is a solemn tune perfect for driving solo, windows down a baron country road. Tackling a human condition to suffer in silence, the honesty in Morris’ vocals paired with airy guitar lines make a romantic track filled with solace and leaves you with a beckoning need to make better choices. ‘Turnstile’ is a track driven around dramatic emotional changes. The upbeat rock track challenges the human experience of feeling on top of the world one minute, and not being able to recognise yourself the next. ‘Gluttony A.D.’ harbours Morris’ doomsday aesthetic in a track, with a thumping rock instruments, the visceral track challenges how society would cope should all technology fail, 21st century greed and the end of the natural world.

Support for Morris’ album is clear, as the artists reached out to his community with a Pozible campaign, and proudly reached his target for crowdfunding his first run of Premeditations on vinyl.

Although the name might not sound familiar, Lachlan X. Morris is no stranger to the music scene. Morris started skipping around the local circuit with his high school band The Guppies, who were finalists in triple j’s prestigious Unearthed High in 2011. The Guppies toured with the likes of Birds of Tokyo, The Rubens, and played at Groovin The Moo, Fat As Butter and Bigsound 2012.

Premeditations is fundamentally about technology and how it affects our relationships and emotions. Full to the brim with 70’s style psych rock /prog rock aesthetic, Premeditations is a nostalgic pop album tracking society’s obsession with technology and greed. Self-proclaiming the sophomore LP as ‘doomsday pop record’, if this is the soundtrack for the end of the world, I’ll be the first one in line. 

TOUR DATES 

Sydney Thursday 1st November  Marly Bar 145 King St, Newtown 2042 

Newcastle Friday 2nd November The Ori 53 Bull St, Cooks Hill Newcastle, NSW 

Maitland Sunday 4th November Bitter & Twisted Festival S

Newcastle Friday 16th November Newcastle Art Gallery 1 Laman St, Cooks Hill NSW 2300  

Melbourne Gasometer Thursday 22nd November 484 Smith St, Collingwood VIC 3066 

Newcastle The Cambridge Thursday 6th December 789 Hunter St, Newcastle West NSW 2302