In the study of literature, there are seven types of conflict. Australian trio Chase Atlantic faced a handful of them while they were working on their fourth album, Lost In Heaven, released on November 1st.
The first was Man Versus Technology.
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“We made like a bunch of instrumentals, a lot of them,” vocalist Mitchel Cave says. “I remember there was a few that [guitarist/vocalist Christian Anthony] sent over to me and then I’d worked on them. And then there was a few from previous times before that. And that was in 2023.”
Things were gaining steam, as they had for three albums before that.
“And then I left my laptop out in the rain one night and the whole thing just didn’t work, as it wouldn’t after you leave it in the rain for a whole night,” Mitchel says. “So that was pretty devastating. We lost like 70% of what would have been like the fourth album in terms of instrumentals, and already lots of demo songs. So that was pretty annoying from the jump, because you lose a little bit of inspiration from that.”
And then there was Man Versus Nature.
Mostly undeterred, they tried the usual things that some artists do to fuel the creative juices, like holing up together in a beautiful location to find inspiration around them, but keep the focus centered on the project. Well, they chose Lake Tahoe and ended up being hit by a snowstorm powerful enough that it turned them into “full time snow shovelers” and shifted the focus from art to survival.
“The whole town evacuated except for us,” says multi-instrumentalist Clinton Cave. “So we were really stuck in the house. We got a couple of gems out there, but it made it very difficult.”
Anthony chimes in.
“There wasn’t a ton of inspiration, especially when you’re just trying to survive rather than, like, being a peaceful [experience].”
As Mitchel laid out in the band’s bio for the album, they basically had to make their fifth album so they could release a fourth album.
And like most creative endeavors, there was plenty of Man Versus Self conflict at this point, too, which comes about on songs like “RICOCHET” with themes of substance abuse and self-doubt, but pushing through it.
Yeah, I’ll do anything to kill this pain
I’m so tired, and I’ve only got myself to blame
Might not make it to my thirties, dig an early grave
Until then, I’ll keep on smiling
Tell the devil, “Go to hell”, just for the irony
“I think there were a few things that we were going through mentally as well that were kind of blocking us from getting like a stream of motivation and continual music-making to the point where we were able to achieve good song after good song,” Mitchel says. “So it was very hard for us to find our go-to state, but eventually when we booked these studios in Studio City called Blackwood Studios, we all had our individual rooms so we could work kind of separately, but still cohesively on this album.”
They’d “visit” each other in their rooms and see how things were going, and while the progress was permanently lost to rain, they still had some leftover sketches of songs from previous years that they could build on. Mostly, by this point, they found their confidence in each other. Aside from the literal brotherly bond between the brothers Cave, the band that had started together in a small town in northern Queensland, relocated to Los Angeles to follow a dream, and made that dream a reality, found strength as a unit.
“I remember, like, my mental health wasn’t good for a second, and luckily we have each other to check each other,” Mitchel says. “Make sure that everyone’s on the right path if we kind of stray. We all had our own demons. We were battling with, individually and then together, but it only made us stronger. And our love for one another is unbreakable. It’s like a brotherhood that you can’t shake.”
This experience and the lessons the guys learned throughout the process shows through on the album. The technicolor album cover and groovy instrumentals might bely the emotions beneath, like on “YOU,” which touches on feelings of isolation and loneliness—Man Versus Self.
“There’s a few fun songs on there, but this one I feel is very deep, this album,” Mitchel concludes. “There are a lot of very personal stories, and even more vulnerability than the last, and more life and more maturity on our end to be able to kind of explain those emotions in a more grown-up way, in a more articulate way.”
Younger versions of Chase Atlantic might not have been able to come out of this gauntlet with the grace that this version had. And while they wish that they didn’t have to wait so long between 2021’s Beauty in Death and Lost in Heaven, the time sort of forced them to band together and grow up together against the odds.
Finally, Man Versus Fate.
Three men versus fate, to be exact.
“This lifestyle definitely has emotional and physical tolls on your body and your mind,” Clinton says. “The thing is, the way we’re doing it is again very authentic and very raw. We want to be making it ourselves. And we want to have a lot of creative control. And because we put a lot of our own personal everything into it, that’s what takes a big toll. And I’m not putting down other artists, but a lot of artists sometimes have bigger teams. They have more of a set out path to follow, and it can become a lot more streamlined.
“Not that it doesn’t come with the same downfalls and pressures and consequences, but we really put our heart on our sleeve, and I think that’s what brings out the best in the music.”
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