Verticoli on album-based music
Nipaluna/Hobart-based alternative-rock trio Verticoli recently dropped their new record, The Echo. Lead singer Sam Hunn wrote this opinion piece for us:
Playing in a rock band is at odds with the single-churning approach that will give you higher odds of success in today’s music industry. Particularly as a small band, and mainly due to more and more songs becoming well known on viral platforms like TikTok, the best thing you can do for yourself as a band is release staggered singles and forget about the album. But that’s not really what Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, and all those great acts did. Not beyond an initial single or two. They recorded a body of work that showed where they were in their creativity at that point in time. They had a conversation with you rather than small talk. You got to see more than just their good side; their darker facets too. Not to say bands don’t operate this way still, some do, but the great album isn’t as revered as it once was.
I guess if you’re not buying albums but streaming playlists instead or shuffling tracks, it’s understandable. I’m guilty of it myself. But the intimacy you get with an artist or band through an album can’t be replicated through a string of singles. I guess we haven’t always been the smartest in our approach to releasing music, but nothing tops the feeling of having someone tell you they’ve fully immersed themselves in your songs and felt it was a real treat. We love albums. We can’t wait for you to hear ours. If we didn’t record an album, we would never have recorded and released our new single ‘Sailor’ because it didn’t immediately seem like a single. Only in the context of recording an album did we have the room to let it morph into something different, something that we felt really sounded like us and were proud of.
VERTICOLI
THE ECHO ALBUM TOUR DATES
THU 24 NOV | RHINO ROOM, TANDANYA/ADELAIDE SA
FRI 25 NOV | VOLTA, WADAWURRUNG/BALLARAT VIC
WED 30 NOV | HIWAY ENMORE, EORA/SYDNEY NSW
THU 1 DEC | HAMILTON STATION HOTEL, MULUBINBA/NEWCASTLE NSW
FRI 2 DEC | THE SUNKEN MONKEY HOTEL, DARKINJUNG/GOSFORD NSW
SAT 3 DEC | RIC’S BAR, MEANJIN/BRISBANE QLD
SAT 10 DEC | GRAND POOBAH, NIPALUNA/HOBART TAS
SUN 11 DEC | THE LEADBEATER HOTEL, NAARM/MELBOURNE VIC
Keep up to date with the band on Insta.
