Perth rockers Great Gable have just released their raucous new album, On The Wall In The Morning Light, and lead singer Alex Whiteman couldn't be more excited. When we speak to Al prior to the album's release, he's on set at the music video shoot for their latest single, Sidewalk, and he's looking forward to sharing the album with fans. While it's only been a couple of years since the band released their triumphant debut album, Tracing Faces, back in 2020, the band feels like On The Wall In The Morning Light has existed in their world for a while. "We've had these songs for a long time, and we've had enough time to fall in love with them again, and fall out of love with them," Al explains.

The band are in love with the songs once more, and they've been sharing glimpses of the new album on the live stage. They've just wrapped up a tour that saw them play shows in New South Wales, Western Australia and New Zealand in May and June, but there's a lot of touring still to come in 2022. To celebrate the release of On The Wall in The Morning Light, they'll be touring around Australia throughout October and November, playing their largest shows to date. It's a great time to be Great Gable.

From the first few notes of Dancing Shoes, the opening track on On The Wall In The Morning Light, there's a sense that the band have kicked things up a notch. It's hard not to get swept up in the party that is a Great Gable song, and the band's drawn in countless fans since the release of their debut single, Only For You, back in 2016. On The Wall In The Morning Light is similarly magnetic, and the album is often more carefree and upbeat than many might have felt over the last two years. That's part of the band's magic, though. A lot of On The Wall In The Morning Light is laden with sun-soaked, slightly hazy guitars, while Al's laidback vocals on songs like Another Day and Pedestal are sure to soundtrack your next summer road trip to where you'd rather be. Above all else, On The Wall In The Morning Light will help you get through the winter months. Slap on your sunscreen and enjoy.

However, there's also a more solemn undercurrent to On The Wall In The Morning Light. Slower numbers like I Know and If You & I offer a brief glimpse into the band's mindset throughout the pandemic, highlighting a different, more nuanced side of the band. If You & I contains lyrics like "It’s getting harder to imagine/Living life without a care", while the track's meandering guitar conjures a sense of helplessness that might be far too familiar to many. It's not surprising that traces of the world's melancholy exist within the fabric of On The Wall In The Morning Light, even if the album is largely celebratory. It's hard to ignore what we've all been through recently.

Looking back on the last couple of years, Al confesses, "I can't help but be a bit melancholy sometimes. My songs, the ones that I bring, are usually the ones that are pretty slow. The upbeat ones are the ones that the boys bring in." Al says that there was a period of time throughout the pandemic where the band "forgot what it was to leave the house with a bit of purpose", and he's certainly not alone in saying that. Much like the rest of the world, the band felt like life was on pause throughout 2020 and 2021. "For the first year [of the pandemic], we all just sat around waiting it out. But then we got back to writing because we knew that we had to come up with another album," Al adds.

The band took advantage of the extra time to write, ending up with "40 songs" to choose from when curating the tracklist for On The Wall In The Morning Light. The result is an album that gives all four members - lead singer Al, guitarist Matt Preen, drummer Callum Guy and bassist Christopher Bye - the chance to shine, both individually and as a unit. This wasn't by accident, either, as the band wrote the songs that appear on On The Wall In The Morning Light both separately and together. The individual writing sessions meant all four members were able to take their own ideas further before they brought them to the band, exploring their thoughts in ways that might not have been possible if the project was solely written collaboratively. Summing up the band's approach to songwriting, Al says, "If something feels good, we just don't second guess it. We just go with it."

Where do you go when you want to bring your songs to life? Matt Corby and Alex Henriksson's Rainbow Valley Studios. Great Gable are signed to Matt and Alex's Rainbow Valley Records, and the newly established Rainbow Valley Studios is where the record came alive. All four band members congregated at the studios, living and working on-site for nearly a month to turn their songwriting sketches into On The Wall In The Morning Light. A typical day at Rainbow Valley Studios looks something like this: a lot of recording, followed by some beers, Mario Kart, table tennis and cornhole (and an opportunity to listen back to what the band had achieved during the day). Al reveals that Matt Corby is "really, really good" at cornhole (the game where you throw beanbags into a hole located on an angled wooden board). Some people truly can do it all. 

Album closer Do You Belong features the lyric "I don't want to be another wasted moment", a sentiment that captures the band's frustration at things coming to a halt. Al explains, "There was this sense of desperation. We want to succeed in what we're doing. We want to get our tunes out there, and it felt like for a while there we couldn't do anything." It's a feeling that many musicians have felt over the last couple of years, and it sums up the band's mindset when writing On The Wall In The Morning Light. When you don't know what lies on the other side, you put your all into what you're doing.

On The Wall In The Morning Light is just as fun as anything the quartet have released to date, but it's not an album that shies away from the reality of what it has meant to be an artist (and indeed, a human) over the last couple of years. There's been a lot of darkness, but the morning light is starting to shine through again. The band's been able to tour again throughout 2022, and Al lights up when talking about being back on stage. He says he's loved "playing live shows again, and just getting up there and just remembering what made you fall in love with it in the first place." Of course, the travel is still a bit of a pain, but you can't win them all, right? 

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Reflecting back on the creation of the album, Al admits that more than anything, he's curious to hear how fans react to the band's expanded sound. He says, "I hope they're open to hearing us venture into a few different sounds, and hearing a few different themes over the whole album." For old Great Gable fans, On The Wall In The Morning Light is a re-introduction of sorts. For new Great Gable fans, it's a chance to discover one of the most exciting bands in the country. The morning light is starting to filter through the window, and it's never felt sweeter.