Mushroom Music Publishing

‘Lotus Skies’ was recorded in late 2010 in Sydney with producer Scott Horscroft (The Panics, Little Red, The Sleepy Jackson), whose method was all about capturing the essence of the song without clutter, highlighting Leader Cheetah’s neat balance of clarity and mystery along the way.

The album was completed on Christmas Eve, but the songs started out months earlier and often as something band members and brothers Dan Crannitch (lead singer and guitarist) and Joel Crannitch(drummer) created together.

“The initial idea for a number of songs on Lotus Skies came from Joel,’’ Dan explains. “He might have a few chords, part of a lyric, an idea for a melody, these little gems he brings out for me to refine. That’s been a revelation and it brings more colour to the sound on this album.’’

As with most bands that are built to last, Leader Cheetah don’t sound like anyone else as much as themselves. No one can say for sure what accidents of history, genes and personality creates an original sound in a band, but Leader Cheetah have it. The result is an album like ‘Lotus Skies’, music with wide-open spaces and long horizons and with real emotional force.

“Some bands thrive on friction but we don’t,’’ says Dan Crannitch. “We know we’re lucky to have the symbiotic chemistry where we leave our egos at the door. It’s that kind of harmony we know produces our best work.’’

And while the songs might be emotionally raw, a number of them – see first single Crawling Up a Landslideand album track Midnight Headlights -- have a positive thrust. The anthemic Our Love builds to something beautiful and includes Holly Throsby on the rich vocal harmonies.

“The lyrics were written at a time when I was feeling that something was out of whack, emotionally and physically,’’ Dan says. “I don’t know where that came from but it created this need to go deeper inside for these songs and all four of us felt that.’’

Like so many great albums, ‘Lotus Skies’ is a testament to the power of the song, for the people creating them and for the people receiving them.

“People need to feel emotions, to connect with them through movies and songs and art in general,’’ Dan says. “For a songwriter, you have this thing inside you where you don’t feel right if you aren’t being creative. With this band we just feel like we’ve found the perfect fit, that the well is deep and isn’t going to dry up.’’

Leader Cheetah aren’t the only ones who are going to feel good about that when the rest of the world hears ‘Lotus Skies’. This new album confirms their place as one of the most exciting and distinctive bands to emerge in Australia in years.