Chase Atlantic crosses Pacific to hit America
When they began writing songs for their new album, the Australian pop group Chase Atlantic jumped right into the deep end — and came out with some of the year’s catchiest, most upbeat songs about loneliness and depression.
The young trio’s shiny, R&B-infused pop has made them stars at home, and they’re now on their biggest U.S. tour, which hits the Paradise on Monday. The songs on their new “Phases” album are still full of pop hooks and sleek modern production, but there’s plenty of angst below the surface. The first single, “Love is (Not) Easy,” makes romance sound more like a trial. And the forthcoming followup, “Even Though I’m Depressed,” is about having a messed-up life but loving it anyway.
In a phone interview this week, the group’s co-singer and songwriter Christian Anthony says they didn’t particularly write those songs to help anybody else. “If the song is relatable to people, then that’s positive and it’s a benefit. But it’s really just about being as honest and truthful as we can. In a song like ‘Even Though I’m Depressed,’ the instrumental sound is really uplifting, and that juxtaposition feels unique to us. Lyrically it’s about the idea of a manic depression where you can go from feeling like the world’s crushing you to feeling that everything’s great. That’s something we personally deal with and what the group members have gone through.”
The roots of Chase Atlantic go back to 2014, when Anthony and lead singer Mitchel Cave were in a boy band called What About Tonight. They were on the Australian version of “The X Factor” and though they only made it to the second week, it gave them a first taste of stardom.
“It taught us what the music industry is not about,” Anthony said. “There’s a difference between someone who’s got a good voice, and someone who’s a musician and an artist. There were a lot of people on ‘X Factor’ who never took that step forward, they got complacent. That’s not to say it wasn’t a great platform for us but we were 14 and 15 then; we’re in our early 20s now. We were playing to thousands of people, but you don’t always realize that when it’s a TV audience.”
The group is now making a serious bid to crack America, and they’ve shifted their home base from Cairns, Australia, to Los Angeles. “It’s really the place to be when it comes to making music and connections, and it inspires us a lot, writing-wise. For some reason, we find it pretty difficult to write lyrics in Australia. Last year was a blur because we played 155 shows, but we try to fly back to Australia and see our families when we can.”
Besides, he says, the American audience could use Chase Atlantic. “I know this is going to sound arrogant, but I really believe we can do any style of music we apply ourselves to. We are always going to try making catchy pop songs, and sometimes we’ll try to make them cool and dark. We’re a pop band but we’re trying to push the edges of what that means.”
Chase Atlantic, with Lauren Sanderson, at the Paradise, Monday night, 7 p.m. Tickets $20; crossroadspresents.com.