Canberra shoegaze-emo hybrid Spouse today share details of their forthcoming debut album, alongside its title track. Wishing On Numbers will arrive on Nov 27 via Gutwrench Records. LISTEN HERE + PRE-SAVE HERE.

The wistful introspection heard within their recent seven-minute epic ‘The Birds Are Dead Along The Highway’ perseveres through ‘Wishing On Numbers’, where the emotive tension rises and falls throughout. Gritty guitars make room for a violin feature – indicative of frontperson Em’s reverence for classical music – as they modulate into a distorted, unfettered crescendo.

Of today’s release, Spouse reveal, “Wishing On Numbers, despite not being the oldest track on the album, feels like the place where the album actually began for Spouse. The title refers to the theme of helpless hoping, pinned upon arbitrary symbols outside of yourself to try and make it come true. Make a wish at 11:11, it probably won’t come true, but now you have externalised your wishes – it’s now up to something other than yourself to actualise.”

Coming up through the alternative scene of their hometown Canberra, Spouse attribute their community-focused ethos to the unconventional mosaic of influences and art in the capital’s underground, a place that’s rapidly building a reputation for its DIY creativity. Wishing On Numbers is indebted to this, straddling space and location, temperature and the extent of pushing mood-driven sonics to their emotional heights. Self-ascribed as a band “very affected by place”, Spouse’s debut is marked by change and growth. With a specific vision in mind for the record, the group drove twelve hours to Adelaide with a car full of gear to work with acclaimed engineer Matt Schultz (Twine, The Empty Threats) at Interim Studios. “You don’t do that if you think you can get that anywhere else,” they share.

The essence of Adelaide seeps through their work, with the influence of physical distance present throughout, even in the album cover, as the band happened upon a striking landscape punctuated by an old mill. Spouse note: “It’s so beautiful and dry and kind of alien in the landscape.” Alongside their enduring reverence for Canberra, there’s a longing on the record borne from members Josh and Em moving to Melbourne. “We talk about that on the album a lot, lost things, distances, memories, miscommunications, plenty of that springs from our love for each other and the pain of not being able to see each other as often.”

Where they individually deliver a unique sonic perspective or thematic interpretation, Spouse’s wholly collaborative effort is what elevates their craft. Where Daan comments on the temperature of the album, the “cold, wistful energy that coats a lot of the songs,” Em’s classical upbringing coats the emotive spirit of the release side by side with the guttural depths they push their vocals. For Emmett, the emotions stirred up during the album’s making are burnt into each track, “as if you walked past a mirror, and all the moments and memories from a specific part of your life are staring back at you”. Ezra resonates with lyrics of grief and over-extension, while Josh highlights their reverence for Australian Gothic imagery. What feels like catharsis concealed through gritted teeth, Spouse colour their debut with the conviction of its members moving in unison.