Shadowboxer

“I feel like purgatory is almost over. I’m just trying to be okay with the fact that I can’t change anything anymore,” Mansionair frontman Jack Froggatt tells Apple Music. The Sydney indie-electronic trio’s debut album is finally out, after a three-year creative process that involved retreating to a cabin in the mountains. Below, he talks through the meaning behind all 16 tracks on the lush, long-awaited Shadowboxer. “Est” “For such a short song, it has quite a story. It was named after the Estey piano that we put in our garage studio in 2016. It's just [guitarist] Lachlan playing around on a synth for about two hours, compacted into 13 seconds. We wanted to start with something that doesn't sound like Mansionair.” “Alibi” “This is the most aggressive version of Mansionair. We wanted an abrasive start, something that was strong, where you put it on and you're like, ‘Whoa. Okay. Here we go.’ It's about what happens when the only person you counted on, whether it be yourself or someone else, lets you down and hangs you out to dry.” “Easier” “I was watching Lost in Translation, and when the scene in the hotel room came on, I was like, ‘I need to write a song about this.’ Because I feel that aimless place. There's no answers, and no control. It’s quite a universal feeling.” “Technicolour” “This looks at a relationship that’s breaking down. It was really loosely based on that scene in Garden State where Zach Braff and Natalie Portman are sitting in the pool. It’s about the brighter moments of a relationship that you don’t think are that important when you're going through them, but without them, the relationship loses meaning and connection.” “Heartbeat” “This is the point in the album where we go and get into our heads. It’s time to put headphones on. Let's talk about some more intimate things: This song is about the miracle of life, about being grateful for what is there and what you do have.” “Astronaut (Something About Your Love)” “‘Astronaut’ came from being f