Amyl and the Sniffers embrace their primal instincts on new album ‘Cartoon Darkness’

Ahead of their new album ‘Cartoon Darkness’, Amyl and The Sniffers say moving to Los Angeles helped them explore their “primal instincts”

The Melbourne punks Amyl and The Sniffers have announced their forthcoming third album Cartoon Darkness, set for release on 30th September via Rough Trade Records. The record follows 2021’s Comfort To Me and their acclaimed 2019 debut album Amyl And The Sniffers.

Talking about the album, vocalist Amy Taylor says: “In so many ways this record was the easiest to make and in other ways the most difficult and terrifying. The only brief was to embrace your most primal instincts and write music from there.”

“Cartoon Darkness is a record about the gap between reality and perception, the stories we tell about our lives versus the truths hidden beneath,” adds guitarist Dec Martens. “It’s about the power of recognising the failure in ourselves and others, the beauty in the absurd and the courage it takes to keep on going.”

Cartoon Darkness was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Dan Luscombe. Taylor says: “Moving to LA was a huge culture shock, which was really good. It was great to not be in our comfort zone and be able to see ourselves from a different perspective, especially from the perspective of Americans and how they see us. It was inspiring, exciting, terrifying and super confronting, but I think that’s important.”

Listen to the first single ‘Hertz’ below:

Cartoon Darkness tracklist:

1. Guided by Angels 2. Hertz 3. Snakes 4. Got You 5. No More Tears 6. I Trawl The Megahertz 7. Maggot 8. Boogie 9. Crave 10. Television