Premiere & Track x Track: saint street - MOTIONS

After dropping their debut EP Why They Call It Falling back in 2020 before dropping a string of singles and becoming regular fixtures on lineups around Perth, including playing Nungarin’s inaugural HomeGrown Festival, RTRFM’s On The Rise, Sidefest and Pride W.A.’s Fair Day.

Now the trio have readied their debut album as they hone their sound that channels the likes of MUNA, Soccer Mommy, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Entirely self-produced, across 13 tracks MOTIONS tackles many emotional ups and downs with a catchy & emotional soundtrack.

Out May 5, MOTIONS is premiering on Pilerats today and we took the opportunity to catch up with the band to find out all about the album in-depth. Have a listen and get to know all about MOTIONS below!

Intro:

This song sonically and thematically introduces the record. The vocal phrase “going through the motions” gave the album its title, and the track itself is constructed with samples from the four singles and sounds from our home studio - the drone is the wind coming through the window on a particularly blustery day. It sets the album up as an exploration of highs and lows that speaks to the process of growing up and coming to terms with what it is to live, love, lose and learn.

I’m Obsessed With You (You Don’t Know I Exist):

We lovingly abbreviate this song’s title to IOWYBYDKIE (eye-oh-ee-bid-key). It came together very quickly when we came around to the studio. Many elements stayed in the project exactly how they were tracked - lending a spontaneity that contributes to the experimental texture of the song. The heavy religious themes in the lyrics play nicely off the heavier instrumental, evoking the catharsis that comes with finally realising the difficulty of navigating what you’ve been taught to believe and what you later discover for yourself.

July:

We’ve got a lot of love for July. It was the first track we finished because we had it picked very early on as the lead single for this record. The choice was super easy on this occasion, as we felt that this track was a lovely bridge between our previous material and our ambitions for MOTIONS. Though gentle and warm, we don’t call July a love song, we describe it as an I wish we were in love song.

Fault Lines:

What was once an utterly depressing acoustic demo got restructured and rewritten to play into duality instead. Recording the tambourine for this track was probably the funniest hour we had in the studio–it was such a memorable and special moment for us that we left in a small clip of us cracking up at the end. We were lucky, too, with the recording of this one while our much-loved vocal microphone died, it was on Jess’ last take for the very last song we had to finish! So the sad, self-deprecating lyrics got balanced out by both the upbeat instrumental and positive memories attached to its creation.

Killing Time:

For us, Killing Time came to embody the phrase ‘trust the process’! We kept pushing and working at this one because we knew it had so much potential. Born out of a shared experience watching Donnie Darko in university, this track was initially called ‘90s Drew Barrymore’, but it filled out to mean a lot more to us than a collection of movie references and easter-eggs. It took a lot of patience to get it finished, but it was so worth it, lyrically and musically, it is a very satisfying and rewarding tune.

Catches:

The 12/8 time signature is about the only thing we kept from this song’s initial concept. Notably, we couldn’t resist a big ending which, at the time, felt like a risk, but we now believe it wouldn’t be the song it is without that gear change. In a way, the instrumental perfectly reflects the theme– representing the perfect storm of overthinking, big feelings, and turmoil that comes with such an experience of resisting your intuition and doing what you know isn’t the right thing for you.

rome:

The match striking at the end of Catches lights and continues to burn into rome before getting extinguished. Jess really only needed one session to put it together, given its simplicity instrumentally. While it is a sonic interlude, rome’s lyrics embody vines reclaiming ruins–illustrating the claustrophobic relationship you engage with when something or someone consumes you. It's a moment to have a nice (deep) breath.

Yours.:

Inspired by a letter written by Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf, and Virginia’s subsequent response,Yours. and Virginia were written and conceptualised as a pair. This one is Virginia’s perspective and was initially demoed as a lullaby, though in the studio it grew into more of a duet. As the response, it felt right to have both voices represented, to give a sense of their closeness–that intimacy that comes with knowing somebody so well.

Virginia:

The album isn’t Virginia’s first presentation to the public eye (ear??), as it was a staple throughout our live performances. It comes to MOTIONS practically as we played it, as we weren’t ready to retire it, and we’d often get told that it was a favourite. It did get some additional synth, but stays true to the version we know and love. Embodying Vita’s voice, this track is bold, confident and direct. She is the lesser-known of the pair, but is extremely accomplished nonetheless–Virginia herself notes this.

NewYou:

The self-assuredness of Vita’s voice sets up NewYou really nicely, turning the album toward resolution–coming out of the woods, so to speak. The topic of friendship breakdowns and breakups is a universal theme, as far as we’re concerned, so we wanted to note the lesson we’ve all learnt, that you’re almost always better off. Easier realised in retrospect, of course, but this song is a little reminder that you do have to protect the peace you create for yourself after learning lessons, or else you’ll be forced to go through it all again (and again.. and again…).

KARMA!:

This song. It gave us grief as producers. The final version is effectively a complete remix. But we absolutely LOVE how it came out. It's far more mature than initially conceptualised, which is funny given that it totally altered the tone of the song. It wasn’t done until we’d matured out of any pettiness that flavoured the early versions. It says that it isn't up to you to waste time and effort trying to teach someone else a lesson because the universe has a way of doing it for you. Also, we were far too attached to the title to make a new one after Taylor Swift released Midnights…

Stormy (Like Me):

Truly, there’s no agenda for this track except voicing our adoration of the outside in cooler weather. Perth (Western Australia) is pretty dry, and the summers are hot, so we take our autumn and winter very seriously here at saint street. It felt right to lean into acoustic and folk elements, then, as the sights and sounds we wanted to celebrate were evoked by the guitar part Laura wrote and brought to the studio.

Wonderland:

Demoed early and left to develop over the whole process, this song turned increasingly hopeful and joyous. Which was exactly the note we wanted to close the record with, signifying the ‘happy ending’ we can’t help but strive for. While it is reflective and touches on feelings of isolation, loneliness and uncertainty, it's presented as an answer to the question “What would you tell your younger self?” - a gentle discussion that holds space for the uncomfortable process of growing up and learning your lessons, but one that promises rewards for perseverance. You can only really understand it all when you have gone through the motions. We all have our own journeys, but we hope that everyone feels a bit seen, understood, and supported by this one.

saint street's debut album MOTIONS is out May 5

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