DZ Deathrays in Bunbury

After locking themselves away and fine-tuning their sound, musical duo the DZ Deathrays have released a new album and are ready to tour Australia.

Shane Parsons (guitar/vocals) and Simon Ridley (drums/vocals) have come a long way from playing at house parties and local stages to now touring with names such as the Foo Fighters and Blood Red Shoes.

While writing their second EP, Black Rats, the duo locked themselves away in what they describe as a “massive old homestead” near Yass, in NSW.

There, in total isolation, the two worked on scraps of ideas accumulated while touring, resulting in atmospheric lead single Northern Lights, which they recorded in the UK with Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine, the Horrors, the Kills).

Parsons said locking themselves away helped with the creative process and eliminated distractions.

“The second album is different to Bloodstreams. We focused a lot more on melody and made the record a lot more concise, while Bloodstreams was the songs as they were, ” he said.

“We didn’t do too much producing on them. We wanted them to be in the same vein and style but just bigger and tighter.

"We locked ourselves away to be isolated and be just us two so we can focus on the songs.

“You can get distracted really easy in the city but going away for a couple of weeks was all about knuckling down and working hard.”

Parsons believes Black Rats is similar to their first album, just more refined.

“In terms of writing a record, the first album was all songs we had written and had been playing for three years, ” he said.

“This time around we had only been playing one live and the rest we had been writing and holding onto until we went into the studio, it was the reverse of the first record.”

The DZ Deathrays will be performing at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Bunbury on May 22.