After five restless years, Carsick Cars, China’s most influential and dynamic indie-rock band, return with their most mature and exciting release to date.
Available in April 2014, ‘3’ is the aptly titled third album for the Beijing based trio. ‘3’ sees vocalist, guitarist and founding member Zhang Shouwang return with his signature sound, seamlessly combining drone with shimmering pop melodies. The result is assured to please established fans and new listeners alike.
‘3’ began with an auspicious start as preview single ‘She Will Wait’ shot to the top position on China’s leading music sharing website, Douban. For this reason among others, ahead of it’s launch in Australia, ‘3’ is already being hailed as one of the most important Chinese records of the decade. Zining Cui of Creative Asia, China’s premier platform for contemporary arts, stated that “China needs a big enough sound to shout out for attention - and Carsick Cars remind us of such a sound.”
Retaining the lineup of the all too brief 2012 Australian East Coast tour, Shouwang, bassist He Fan and drummer Sun Heting travelled to New York to record ‘3’ with producers Peter Kember (Spacemen 3, Sonic Boom) and Hamish Kilgour (The Clean), leaders in indie/psychedelic rock circles. Australian fans of Sino-American sounds and aesthetics will appreciate the cover art by renowned Beijing/Californian contemporary artist Guo Hongwei.
The record, the first full length to be released by the current members, is a logical progression for long standing fans of Carsick Cars. ‘3’, however, starkly contrasts in maturity and complexity from the band’s straight ahead noise-pop self titled debut in 2005. There are a few tracks reminiscent of well known singles from their prior two albums (most notably ‘Reaching The Light’), but most disparate is how ‘3’ showcases the extraordinary technical skill of Shouwang as a guitarist and the potential born from the unity of these three musicians.
