Spring a Leak

After a notable two-year absence from the new-release racks, The Lucksmiths return with a mighty "don't argue" in the shape of Spring a Leak, their exhaustive new collection of lost treasures. No mere greatest hits collection, Spring a Leak compiles over a decade’s worth of great recordings that have never made it onto a Lucksmiths full-length: b-sides, alternative versions (from 7" singles and demos), songs recorded especially for compilations, live, radio and TV sessions, cover versions, remixes, and various previously unreleased ephemera. Forty-five songs in all, packaged in a deluxe double-CD digipak with cover artwork by budding Melbourne illustrator Trudy White. A major undertaking, both for the band and the mastering engineer who had to sift through piles of CDs, old DATs and cassette tapes, Spring a Leak is the first time many of these songs have turned up on a digital format. The 'Macintyre' 7" (recorded in 1995 and originally limited to 500 highly sought-after copies) sits comfortably amongst more recent work including cover versions of well-loved songs by The Bee Gees, The Smiths, The Modern Lovers, and The Magnetic Fields, as well as lesser-known tracks by some of The Lucksmiths’ friends such as The Simpletons, The Ladybug Transistor, and The Sugargliders (cousins, incidentally, of Lucksmiths singer Tali White). Also included are live tracks and radio sessions recorded in various corners of the world, from Melbourne to Stockholm, Paris, Bellingham, the Los Altos Hills (near San Francisco), and El Dorado (near, um, Wangaratta). As ever, The Lucksmiths’ somewhat minimalist sound is broadened by a host of guests, from groups like US indiepop stars The Aislers Set, Poundsign, Kissing Book, The Mosquitoes, and Still Flyin', as well as artists closer to home such as Craig Pilkington of the Killjoys (who recorded many of these tracks at his Audrey Studios), Pete Cohen of Sodastream, Kellie Sutherland of Architecture in Helsinki, and Darren Hanlon.