Timothy Powles has two albums releasing this Friday – ‘Lacuna’ (The Church) his long term main project on which he performs both touring and in studio, and this one from The Argon Room, ‘Algorithms For Happiness’ on which he produced and played. ARIA Nominated Damien ‘Diz’ Cassidy (Faker) and Simon Starling (Cult45 and Etherland) are the other members of ‘The Argon Room’, with notable guest Jeffrey Cain (The Church, Remy Zero-USA)

Mastered by Grammy Winner William Bowden.

Its a loosely threaded concept album that is dark and atmospheric and features a textured and layered sound. Think ‘The Jesus and Mary Chain’, ‘Japan’, ‘The Church’ and ‘All India Radio’.

‘.. the concept developed early on in the writing. From various angles and through different lenses the album follows a lone survivor in space grappling with existence.. out of time and in a vacuum. Is this life? They ask. It seems bleak at best.. but maybe, just maybe there’s hope.’ (Principal Writer and Vocalist Simon Starling)

Releasing on all DSP’s, including on Vinyl and CD via MGM

Read the Backseat Mafia review below…

NEW FULL ALBUM REVIEW

“There is a wry provocation in the title. We live in an age where algorithms curate what we hear, what we read and, increasingly, how we feel, promising happiness in an endless scroll. An album born of grief, written for the most part in the days after losing an artist who defied every formula, sits pointedly against that idea. You cannot code for this sort of feeling; it has to be lived..” – Arun Kendall
https://www.backseatmafia.com/album-review-the-argon-room-conjure-a-dark-glistening-requiem-in-the-long-shadow-of-bowie-on-debut-algorithms-for-happiness/

VIDEO PREMIERE

https://scenestr.com.au/music/premiere-watch-the-argon-rooms-new-music-video-empty-star-20261021

The album follows two characters that have left Earth in a small craft with the hope of finding a new planet, a new home, a new life and ultimately themselves. Tragically one of them dies there in the seat, in the space suit beside the other, in the vast emptiness of space. The living one is then left to ponder their existence alone forever. ‘Is this life?’ they ask. 

For the most part each song is looking at this scenario from a different angle. In real life, the dead character could be anyone missing from our lives, someone departed or slowly diminishing, someone we miss, someone we only see in dreams and hope is there when we wake or someone we call out to in the silence of space but never hear back from. Alone the survivor asks themself, ‘Is this life?’ ‘Am I really here?’ ‘Was I ever here?’ The answer can’t be heard, but you can find it, even if it kills you.. This IS life! 

Simon Starling started out in 1996 in Sydney punk band ‘Cult 45’. 
He moved to Melbourne in 2002 and started a new band called ‘Etherland’. The band played regularly until Starling moved back to Sydney in 2008, which coincided with a burst of writing activity that culminated in the formation of a new band ‘Starling’, and the album ‘Semaphore’ (2012). The record was produced by Steve Kilbey from legendary band ‘The Church’ and his backing vocals and various instrument performances can be heard throughout. Drums on the record were played by fellow Church member Timothy Powles.

Damien Cassidy grew up in Canberra. Assuming the stage name Dizzi DeCazz, he formed ‘CooCoo Fondoo’ in 1998 and joined ‘The Pip Branson Corporation’ and released their EP ‘Hot Dollar’ (2007) and later that year Damien also joined ‘Faker’, touring relentlessly and appearing at festivals like Big Day Out, Dusty Days, Falls Festival, Fat as Butter, Stonefest and more over the next couple of years.

Faker’s 2008 ARIA Awards performance — with nominations for Best Group, Single of the Year, and Best Rock Album — caught the attention of P!nk, who invited them to open the first Australian leg of her blockbuster Funhouse Tour in 2009. 

The 2012 touring line up from ‘Starling’ including Wes Gregorace (Cult 45, Devoted Few) Damien ‘Diz’ Cassidy (Faker) and Shaun Gaida soon solidified and became ‘The Argon Room’ when a new album was mooted. This time Church drummer Timothy Powles would produce the record with notable guests Jeffrey Cain (The Church, Remy Zero) and Mark Axiak adding their distinctive guitars to the mix.  

A burst of writing started in pure grief the day of David Bowie’s death in 2016. In the days after, Starling wrote half of the ten songs that made it to the record and in the longer shadow of Bowie’s death the remaining songs were written and the album was completed. 

Music Video for Single ‘Empty Star’ from the Album

Stream Here

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