Oscar Pollock of Sundara Karma discusses new music and the threat of AI
After several years of relative dormancy, punctuated by a scattering of festival gigs and EP releases, Sundara Karma has returned with its third studio album, Better Luck Next Time. The release marks the band’s first full-length record since 2019’s Ulfilas’ Alphabet. In honour of such an exciting return, we felt it was high time we got better acquainted with Oscar Pollock, Sundara Karma’s frontman and songwriter.
Firstly, I wanted to understand why the band had opted for sporadic EPs over the last few years. “Well, Covid, I guess,” Pollock explained. “It didn’t really make sense to put out an album when all of that was going on. Then, I think when we were doing EPs, we weren’t really sure where the band was going: whether we wanted to do another album. EPs were less of a commitment.”
Pollock certainly seemed more enthusiastic about the new album as a cohesive product with more purpose. Although he couldn’t pinpoint “specific” influences on the new album, he revealed that the “brief” was “just great indie music, straight down the line indie. We wanted to make stuff that people who liked our first album could resonate with. That’s what was informing the sound.”
With regard to the album’s thematic coordination, Pollock identifies a “running motif” of loss. While there are “aspects” throughout the album of “having lost out on love or other things in life,” Pollock “wouldn’t want to be too specific with what it means.” He added, “I rather like that people can get that from listening to the lyrics and digesting it themselves.”
I noted that, while the sound is reminiscent of the band’s 2017 debut album, Youth Is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect, there was a pleasing nuance to the sound. Most apparent is an elevated synth presence, especially in the enveloping ambient soundscape, ‘Okay I’m Lonely’.
“There are developments for sure,” Pollock noted. “I think it’s a better album, and I think it’s a more interesting album to listen to than the first one.”
Although Pollock performs with lead guitarist Ally Baty, bassist Dom Cordell and drummer Haydn Evans, he tends to construct the band’s music in solitude. “Almost always instrumentals, music [comes first],” he said, discussing the writing process. “And lyrics will come after.”
Continuing, he explained that the lyrics are often set to a tune using a guide vocal. “I write into Ableton,” Pollock said. “So, I kind of produce the song as I’m writing it. I’ve never really written on one instrument. The production and writing have come at the same time ever since I had GarageBand.”
Better Luck Next Time is best consumed as a package, especially upon a first listen, but each track brings a new piece to the puzzle. Naturally, Pollock has his favourites: “I really like ‘Wishing Well’, and I like ‘Okay I’m Lonely’. Those two feel like standouts for me.”
“It’s never guaranteed that I’ll be happy with the musical writing of a song, the lyrical writing of a track and then the production of a song,” Pollock added with regard to ‘Wishing Well’. “All those things have to come together, and sometimes one is weaker than the other, and that will taint my view of the track forever. But with this one, I’m very happy with all of them.”
As the conversation meandered towards the future, we touched upon the prevalent topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the arts. “It’s going to change everything, isn’t it?” Pollock commented pensively. “From my understanding of it, it’s not a question of if it gets to a point where AI can start writing really great convincing pop songs; it’s when that’s gonna happen.”
“I hope it becomes more of a tool for artists rather than something that replaces art,” he added. “It’s a philosophical question at the end of the day: are we ready, as humanity, to embrace art that isn’t human at all? Is that something we’ll find appealing? Or will it be something that really doesn’t sit right?”
Pollock opined that pockets of society would “become anti-tech because of how post-truth everything is.” He added, “We won’t know what’s real, so I can see people being against technology, but hopefully there’s some middle ground. Will there be enough moderation around AI laws?”
At this point, I highlighted the controversy surrounding the use of AI for countenance and vocal fabrication. “Morally, it does seem wrong,” Pollock agreed. “It’s a teething stage we’re in, isn’t it? So we’ve got to figure it out fast. We can’t afford to get it wrong… But we probably will get it wrong.”
“It’s going to be mad,” he concluded. “I mean, if there’s going to be newly made Blackadder episodes that were never written or recorded, and there’s endless, infinite series’ to watch, I’d be up for that!”
Finally, I wanted to sequester some of Pollock’s wisdom for the sake of any aspiring artists among readers. I fear our prior topic may have had a hand in his response. “Get friendly with Artificial Intelligence. Learn it. Learn the law,” he chuckled with an air of apprehension.
As we waved our last goodbyes, Pollock mentioned his excitement to soon head out on Sundara Karma’s first official tour in nearly five years. The 18-stop UK tour begins on November 20th in Newcastle and concludes on December 13th in London. See the full list of tour stops and listen to the new album below.
