Louis Inglis

LOUIS INGLIS

Dark Days Ahead
Metal Postcard

Dark Days Ahead is utterly confusing and bewilderingly amazing. The debut album for self-proclaimed recluse and singer-songwriter Louis Inglis will take you on a musical and lyrical journey that will end with glaring at the animated album cover in frustration.

This is not easy listening – but if you can make it through, it is undoubtedly worth it. The album forces the listener to really take in and (for lack of a better cliché) feel the music. Many of the songs on this album are devastatingly dark, like the aptly named Sadtime. Lighter tunes like God Bless You will lull you into a false sense of security with a ‘60s sound and quirky keyboard, but listen closely to the lyrics and all the pretence will fall away.

Inglis writes, plays and records all his own music, and countless instruments are featured on the album, plus a few unrecognisable sound effects thrown in every so often – assumedly created through an old-school Casio keyboard.

There is nothing mediocre about Dark Days Ahead, and despite the sometimes rough recording, listening to it will ensure that you judge all other artists to a higher standard: if this is what one guy can create in his bedroom, what the hell is everyone else doing?

Like its writer, Louis Inglis’ debut album is a mystery. A mystery that you should definitely sink your teeth into.

_CHLOE PAPAS - Xpress magazine

LOUIS INGLIS

Dark Days Ahead
Metal Postcard

Dark Days Ahead is utterly confusing and bewilderingly amazing. The debut album for self-proclaimed recluse and singer-songwriter Louis Inglis will take you on a musical and lyrical journey that will end with glaring at the animated album cover in frustration.

This is not easy listening – but if you can make it through, it is undoubtedly worth it. The album forces the listener to really take in and (for lack of a better cliché) feel the music. Many of the songs on this album are devastatingly dark, like the aptly named Sadtime. Lighter tunes like God Bless You will lull you into a false sense of security with a ‘60s sound and quirky keyboard, but listen closely to the lyrics and all the pretence will fall away.

Inglis writes, plays and records all his own music, and countless instruments are featured on the album, plus a few unrecognisable sound effects thrown in every so often – assumedly created through an old-school Casio keyboard.

There is nothing mediocre about Dark Days Ahead, and despite the sometimes rough recording, listening to it will ensure that you judge all other artists to a higher standard: if this is what one guy can create in his bedroom, what the hell is everyone else doing?

Like its writer, Louis Inglis’ debut album is a mystery. A mystery that you should definitely sink your teeth into.

_CHLOE PAPAS - Xpress magazine

Reclusive local singer/songwriter Louis Inglis comes out of hiding this weekend to launch his debut album Dark Days Ahead. He chats to MATTHEW HOGAN ahead of its launch this Sunday, August 28, at The Bird. Support comes from Fall Electric, Michael Strong & The Ghost Anyway and Swoop Swoop.



Writing and home recording songs since his teenage years, Louis Inglis is rarely seen on the stages of Perth. With countless collections of unreleased songs in his archive, he did mange to distribute an EP release a few years back.
“The closest thing to a proper release I’ve done was a little EP that got a bit of play on RTR,” Inglis begins. “I was just burning them up as needed and had this gimmick where I’d tape some textas to the front of the CD case and the sleeve was just white paper. There were instructions on how to let the music infuse your mind so you could draw your own cover!”
A colourful cover is pre-prepared for you on Dark Days Ahead, a 10-track album that continues the folkie’s penchant for self-recording. “For me the advantages of a proper studio have never outweighed the massive disadvantage of having to work to a clock,” Inglis offers. “I like to write as I record a lot of the time, and I tend to backtrack and make mistakes and leave things for months before coming back to them. I like to record in the middle of the night; character and feel are more important to me than fidelity, both would be great though!”
Painted with various guitars, harmonica, Casio keyboards, cheek pops and countless other instruments, Dark Days Ahead turned into a real learning process for its craftsman. “I was buying a lot of gear and reading a lot about recording and making heaps of blunders and just trying to make something which sounded like I wanted it to,” he says.
But it’s Inglis’ descriptive lyrics that truly stand out as he sings of subjects like war, drought and insomnia. “With lyrics I’m mainly just trying to evoke moods or zones, something to complement the music and contextualise it a bit,” he says. “There’s often a bit of a half formed story in the middle there, just an indication. I like it if I can say something really nasty and horrible but have it come across as sweet. For me it’s the hardest part of songwriting, it can just flow if I’m in the right headspace but I have heaps of songs without words and very few words without songs.”
Despite being a self-described recluse, Inglis has attracted the attention of some overseas listeners as Dark Days Ahead is released through eclectic Hong Kong based label Metal Postcard. “Sean Hocking runs the label and is really supportive and easy to communicate with, and just seems to be in it solely out of enthusiasm for good music,” Inglis praises. “He got in touch with me over MySpace after Swoop Swoop [Sean Gorman] had seen my page and pointed him towards it.” - Xpress magazine

Reclusive local singer/songwriter Louis Inglis comes out of hiding this weekend to launch his debut album Dark Days Ahead. He chats to MATTHEW HOGAN ahead of its launch this Sunday, August 28, at The Bird. Support comes from Fall Electric, Michael Strong & The Ghost Anyway and Swoop Swoop.



Writing and home recording songs since his teenage years, Louis Inglis is rarely seen on the stages of Perth. With countless collections of unreleased songs in his archive, he did mange to distribute an EP release a few years back.
“The closest thing to a proper release I’ve done was a little EP that got a bit of play on RTR,” Inglis begins. “I was just burning them up as needed and had this gimmick where I’d tape some textas to the front of the CD case and the sleeve was just white paper. There were instructions on how to let the music infuse your mind so you could draw your own cover!”
A colourful cover is pre-prepared for you on Dark Days Ahead, a 10-track album that continues the folkie’s penchant for self-recording. “For me the advantages of a proper studio have never outweighed the massive disadvantage of having to work to a clock,” Inglis offers. “I like to write as I record a lot of the time, and I tend to backtrack and make mistakes and leave things for months before coming back to them. I like to record in the middle of the night; character and feel are more important to me than fidelity, both would be great though!”
Painted with various guitars, harmonica, Casio keyboards, cheek pops and countless other instruments, Dark Days Ahead turned into a real learning process for its craftsman. “I was buying a lot of gear and reading a lot about recording and making heaps of blunders and just trying to make something which sounded like I wanted it to,” he says.
But it’s Inglis’ descriptive lyrics that truly stand out as he sings of subjects like war, drought and insomnia. “With lyrics I’m mainly just trying to evoke moods or zones, something to complement the music and contextualise it a bit,” he says. “There’s often a bit of a half formed story in the middle there, just an indication. I like it if I can say something really nasty and horrible but have it come across as sweet. For me it’s the hardest part of songwriting, it can just flow if I’m in the right headspace but I have heaps of songs without words and very few words without songs.”
Despite being a self-described recluse, Inglis has attracted the attention of some overseas listeners as Dark Days Ahead is released through eclectic Hong Kong based label Metal Postcard. “Sean Hocking runs the label and is really supportive and easy to communicate with, and just seems to be in it solely out of enthusiasm for good music,” Inglis praises. “He got in touch with me over MySpace after Swoop Swoop [Sean Gorman] had seen my page and pointed him towards it.” - Xpress magazine

This guy's a dab hand at subtly layering and combining sounds to transport you to wistful childhood days where cares were few and pleasures simple. Don't even know if that's what it's about but it takes me to a very nice place. 'Sleepyhead' is a beaut too. Congrats Louis.

Caz Tran, triple j

04 Nov, 2008
- www.triplejunearthed.com

This guy's a dab hand at subtly layering and combining sounds to transport you to wistful childhood days where cares were few and pleasures simple. Don't even know if that's what it's about but it takes me to a very nice place. 'Sleepyhead' is a beaut too. Congrats Louis.

Caz Tran, triple j

04 Nov, 2008
- www.triplejunearthed.com

Kudos Louis! This is a fantastic tune. I love how the dynamics of this song slowly build up throughout and new instruments are introduced at just the right moment. The melodies are wistful and incandescent. It's just an excellent, well-rounded song.

Dom Alessio, triple j

21 Jan, 2009
- www.triplejunearthed.com

Kudos Louis! This is a fantastic tune. I love how the dynamics of this song slowly build up throughout and new instruments are introduced at just the right moment. The melodies are wistful and incandescent. It's just an excellent, well-rounded song.

Dom Alessio, triple j

21 Jan, 2009
- www.triplejunearthed.com