The Pleasures burst on to the scene in 2022. Having released three singles in the Australian market so far, The Beginning of the End, Every Story Has Two Sides and Paranoid, The Pleasures showcased a cocktail of styles indicative of what the album promised, which has seen them wonderfully supported by radio right around the country to date.
The band is fronted by renowned singer-songwriter Catherine Britt – mother, breast cancer survivor, multi-Golden Guitar winner, multi-ARIA nominee and youngest ever Australian Grand Old Opry performer AND Melbourne’s Lachlan Bryan – modern day troubadour, songwriter’s songwriter, Golden Guitar winner and consummate story-teller. Together they bring all of their experience and humanity – as well as two of the most authentic and character-filled voices you’ll hear this or any other year.
The name The Pleasures is taken from a brothel(!) in Austin, Texas – where Britt and Bryan found themselves stranded (through no intention of their own, they hasten to add) on the night they first met. The bawdy nature of this first encounter is befitting of the music they would go on to make together.
Not for the faint-of-heart, The Pleasures’ debut album plots the lifespan of a fiery relationship from the start, through to the finish and the aftermath. But despite the fire, passion and impulsiveness, the songs are decidedly adult – tackling the complexities and messiness of grown-up attraction and separation.
Aided by Damian Cafarella (bass) and Brad Bergen (drums), The Pleasures produce a sound that is raucous, dirty and blues-inspired, yet occasionally interrupted by delicate moments of sublime country-folk. They might get called a country band, but there’s as much Jack White influence here as there is George Jones (in fact there’s plenty of both), alongside the plethora of mythologised girl-boy country acts with whom they will inevitably draw comparison.
“Lachlan and I have always clicked in life and in song” explains Catherine, “and we’ve always had an unspoken understanding and respect for one another. These songs flowed out of us so easily. I want more honest, real music in the world and I couldn’t think of a better person to make it with!”
Lachlan adds “it was almost frightening how easily we found we could write together. Catherine has no filter, and she destroyed mine pretty much immediately. These songs are raw and honest – if a line didn’t ring true then it didn’t make the cut. The playing is tough and primitive – we’re outside our comfort zones and revelling in it. Oh and I get to harmonise with Catherine – which is something I feel like I was born to do”.
The Beginning of the End was produced by The Pleasures, engineered, and mixed by Damien Cafarella at EoR Studios in Melbourne and mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering in Nashville.
The Pleasures will launch the album live in Melbourne, Sydney and at The Gympie Muster, before embarking on an eleven-date tour of the USA in September returning to Australia in October to perform at the Groundwater Country Music Festival.
The Pleasures’ debut album The Beginning of the End is out now
– available digitally and on CD / VINYL (MGM).