In May of 2008, the four currently Australian based members of Telafonica made their debut together. Their live set was based on older Telafonica tracks, the newer members replicating and fleshing out roles that had been established by members now based overseas. In the ensuing 18 months, the Australian based contingent has busily been adding their own work to that repertoire as they have gigged regularly in and around Sydney. The first fruits of this new music was the 7” single, 'Nothing Ventured', released in late 2008. Following a clear out of older unreleased material on the early 2009 mini-album, 'I Saw This And Thought Of You', as well as brand new material and covers appearing on compilations such as 'New Weird Australia Vol 1' (New Weird Australia) and 'Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown' (Forthesakeofthesong), 'Love On The Second Stair' sees the first extended output from the new line-up.
While still deeply rooted in electronic rhythms and processing, the addition of Blake Wassell (Lessons In Time), Eliza Magill and Rebecca Elmer has seen the band's sound expand into more organic domains. All four members write and sing, colouring the tracks in diverse ways. For the first time on a Telafonica release, all the tracks are song based with a cohesive lyrical focus, alluded to in the album title. A widening of live sounds has also resulted, ranging from traditional piano, cornet and glockenspiel through to the quirkier toy piano, curtain rods and typewriter, as well as a wide range of acoustic percussion. Trainspotters can also listen out for samples or sonic references from/to the likes of Gus Gus, Martini Bros, Adam and the Ants, The Beatles, Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective, Efterklang and Sufjan Stevens, amongst many others.
The London based contingent of Telafonica has certainly not been abandoned, with founding member David Hughes responsible for the artwork and design of the album packaging, the full release version of which is printed using risograph technology.
one of the fabulous remixers of our track, 'i can hear there's a peace in the dark', gets his own music out into the world. it is haunting and gorgeous. Telafonica
The latest from Papercuts is another batch of bright, melodic, ’60s-influenced pop songs with driving, heart-on-sleeve vocals. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 16, 2018