Six years after relocating from New York City, indie four-piece Clairaudience is ready to relaunch. Based in Melbourne, the core members, Danny and Caroline Jumpertz, recruited Danny’s brother Mick Jumpertz (bass) and Danny’s long-time musical partner-in-crime, Chris Smales (guitar) into the lineup, which began rehearsals in a dank North Melbourne basement in the gaps between the 2020-21 lockdowns.

Clairaudience’s 2016 self-titled album yielded the Spotify hit ‘Being Bad’ (108,008 listens and counting). This full-length release followed on from their summery mini-album Sun Damage (2015). Both were recorded with Abe Seiferth (Yeasayer, Eleanor Friedberger) between 2014 and 2016 at Transmitter Park Studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Caroline and Danny had emigrated to New York City in 2010 after gaining US residency via the Green Card lottery. But let’s backtrack a little…

Clairaudience formed in Sydney’s inner-west in 2006 as an improv–focused four piece and the house band at Danny and Caroline’s Feral Media record label and studio headquarters. Alongside Danny and Caroline, the band featured bassist Martin Kirkwood (Driptray) and guitarist Susan Harman. Camber, a track from their 2007 debut, POWWOW 3, was described by critic Emmy Hennings as “Joy Division on AutoSummarise: ominous, whiplash drums and dirty guitar form an instrumental loop so audacious in its imitation that it’s kind of great.”

Following Caroline and Danny’s 2010 move to New York City, they met New York-based German multi-instrumentalist Franzi Szymkowiak (Lukka), Aussie expat Kerrii Cavanagh (bass) and Rhode Island native Heidi Patalano (guitar, vocals) who kickstarted a more song-based iteration of Clairaudience. The band gigged regularly in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. Clairaudience played the Northside Festival (Brooklyn), Make Music New York Festival, Williamsburg favourite Pete’s Candy Store, the legendary Greenwich Village club The Bitter End as well as downtown Manhattan staples the Cake Shop, the Lit Lounge and Otto’s Shrunken Head, refining their raw and poppy, Velvet Underground / Sonic Youth-inspired sound.

2015’s six-track Sun Damage cassette, described by Atwood Magazine as “a psychedelic dream full of jangling guitars and a Phil Spector-like Wall of Sound” preceded the 2016 full length album, which critics likened to the post-punk pop of The Chills and Go Betweens and even the clean guitar interplay of Pavement.

Since returning to Australia in 2017, Clairaudience and Feral Media have been busy re-establishing their label and rehearsal HQ in Carlton North and honing a new live set which is a blend of raw psych rock, new wave and melodic post punk. The current line-up has blown away any Covid-induced cobwebs and is now ready to start performing live.

Clairaudience’s New York City lineup circa 2016: Caroline, Danny, Franzi and Heidi.