The Pretty Littles
When the Pretty Littles released their previous album in 2025, it followed a long stretch of dormancy, change and a rebuilt lineup. Through it all, the songwriting of frontman Jack Parsons remained the band’s center of gravity.
Out June 5, “Mulga Wire” marks the quickest turnaround in the history of the Littles. The album came together in what Parsons described as “a series of last things falling into place” — it’s a record assembled with the audible momentum of a band in its purest form.
Recently, Parsons discussed the making of the album, the road that led to it and the future of the band.
Listen to this interview anywhere podcasts are available.
The following transcript was generated using transcription software and may contain minor errors or omissions.
YY: I guess I'll start with around the time “FORCE” came out last year. It was your first record in five years, and during that time you completely rebuilt the band's lineup. So now heading into your second record of what's essentially phase two of the band, what similarities can you draw between "FORCE" and “Mulga Wire,” and how do you think things continue to change?
JP: I mean, the similarities are that it's the same band. Similar sounds, similar approach. And, you know, I think that there are similarities in the way that we've approached recording and approach writing. There's similarity. We found a bit of a, we unlocked a little bit of a new thing, but you know, in sound and energy and I think the way we craft songs, we sort of unlocked something with the new lineup on "FORCE." And so that kind of carried over on the new album. But the differences are that "FORCE" had songs that were half written across five years that some songs were going right back to, you know, 2021. Some songs were kind of almost fully formed. Some songs were brand new. You know, I think like the difference is that we started putting songs out for "FORCE" two years before the album came out that didn't have all the boys playing on it. I was sort of playing bass, you know, like the differences. I think that that, that the "FORCE" was kind of working through this new normal and, and finding songs that had been there for, for a few years. And this one was a little bit, these are all new songs. They were crafted, they were written quickly, recorded even more quickly, you know.
I believe you started recording this album — it was the same week you released "FORCE," right?
Yeah.
So I imagine it probably felt good to get right back to work, especially after how long, like you said, "FORCE" took to put together. But I think I was reading you took a break from recording for a few months, and then you were a little overwhelmed when you ended up getting back into it. Is that right?
Yeah, we kind of set these loose goals. It was like because people were going overseas and people had like pretty big things happening in their life. And we had a window. The time between finishing an album and it coming out, I mean, that can vary from band to band, but for us, there was probably like two months or something, that "FORCE" had been finished before it was going to come out. And so we knew that there was going to be this time that we weren't going to be able to record or write. And so we kind of set these goals. It was like, what if we got four songs done before that break? And it didn't really seem possible, but then it kind of happened more or less. And then when we got back from that time off and kind of getting back into it and, you know, some pretty drastic changes in people's lives and trips overseas and things and all kinds of stuff was going on. We realized that those four songs had to change pretty dramatically. The other six songs were, you know, needed some work. So it was just like a bit of a frantic, a bit of a realization that we weren't in as good a position, I think, as we thought we were, even though it was comforting to have some songs half banked. We realized half banked and half baked. We realized that we, you know, there was going to be, it's going to be a little bit of a mad dash, as it always is, but I think we convinced ourselves maybe it wasn't going to be as mad a dash as it ended up being, you know?
Well, glad to hear you got it done regardless. It must not have been that long ago that you finished it up too, either, right?
Nah. It was, oh probably, I reckon March, March, April, May. I reckon it was like right at the end of March or maybe the start of April. So I'm sort of in that phase where like, yeah, I haven't listened to it for a little while now because like, as you get, as you're just getting there, like we were doing, we were adding parts the week it was being mastered, you know, I haven't listened to the album for a while now, so it'd be good to tap back into it at some point.
Yeah. I know with some bands, you know, they'll finish an album and then because of their label or whatever it is, they have to wait like a year before they can even start, you know, releasing singles or whatever it is. And so I don't know, it's good that you guys can just like, you know, finish an album and then send it.
Yeah, it is good. I mean, we have freedom because we're not tied to anything meaningful in the sense that there's not like a big operation behind us crafting really in-depth release plans and things like that. We just don't, we've just never really had that machine, like dictating those terms. It would be good in some respects to have more people, you know, helping with that side of things, but we're just not just not been the story of this band. And so it's just not something that we are really affected by. So if we want to put something out, we can just put something out. We can kind of think about it. The release plans are haphazard where it's really reactive. It's, oh, we're going to put a song out in six weeks, let's get a film clip together, or we're going to put two songs out or maybe three before the album comes out. The vinyl is going to take two months. Let's put the album out as soon as that, you know, like it's just I don't mind it so much. I don't really like dwelling. I mean, I think it helped with "FORCE". Like "FORCE". We put the first song out two years before the album came out, but that was just because there wasn't an album and there was no plan, but it ended up working really well and the songs were strong enough. And this one, it's finished. We've put some songs out. Let's get the album out. You know, it's not really. There's not a whole lot of thought behind it in terms of like, I don't know, some people just have these kind of huge run ups and huge machines and marketing plans and PR approaches and things like that. And that's, that works for them. I think it definitely helps in this day and age if you can crack into that algorithm and all that kind of shit. But I just I'm not going to do it. And we don't have anyone doing it for us. So I can't be, I can't, can't be fucked.
Yeah. Well for what it's worth, it doesn't seem unstructured or anything. That's the impression that I get, at least.
Wow. That's awesome. We're tricking everyone.
You are, yeah. And so I want to keep talking about the album, but before we go any further, I did just want to make a mention to its name. So I think Australia has a reputation in other parts of the English speaking world for having like, this endless list of unique slang terms. I had to look this up. So for people who might not know, can you just explain what "mulga wire" means?
Well, I guess mulga wire is, you know, you've got the grapevine, we've got the mulga wire. It's just, you know, rumors, things being passed around. I think it's not a term which is used often in Australia. It's definitely a dead expression, but it was of interest to me and when I heard it and it's just one of those expressions, it's completely dormant. It's completely out of the what do you call it, the lexicon. Is that the right word? It's just it's not being used. But I, I heard it and it just sort of struck a chord with me and it felt relevant to the album. And so we went with that. We're going to call the album mate. But it felt a little bit I don't know, visceral.
Yeah. Well, I like "Mulga Wire."
That's good to hear.
I'm glad you said something. I guess I would have gone to Australia and, like, started using it and people would've been like, what?
I've never heard the expression before in my life. It's just one of those. Yeah, it just it felt it was interesting to me, you know, and, and, and it reflected some elements of the album. Yeah. It's it's not an easy thing naming an album. It's always something that we, we probably have more discussion around, you know, art and things like naming a title, naming an album and things like that. Those things are pretty challenging for us, I think, versus writing songs. I think we can all agree on that a little bit more easily than some of the other elements of it.
Yeah. I was looking, and your last three albums were all, you know, they have a title track. They were named after one of the songs on the album, and this one was not, if I'm not mistaken, I looked at the track list. So what sort of like went into choosing the name of the album?
I think sometimes a song title can represent the album beyond the song it's referencing, So "Weekend Away," the band at that time, that idea of a weekend away just kind of spoke to me beyond the song. The song is not really about that, but I could just for me, it felt symbolic of the band. And then "FORCE" is a song. But again, that album was just forced together. And so it just felt appropriate in that respect as well. Beyond the title and then this one, we definitely were toying with some different ideas. It isn't something that's, I think it's challenging for us to come up with titles because it's not overly interesting to us in some ways. Like we know that it's important to have something which is meaningful and that makes sense and, and all that kind of thing. But for us, I think we're far more interested in music. And even the art of the album is more interesting to us than the name. I think the names are just inherently really challenging. We find it anyway, unless one just jumps out. And so "Mulga Wire" was just an idea where like you kind of it goes in the phone, the notes app on my phone, you know, or you people hear stuff. There was "This Next Year" is a song on the album, and that was floated as an idea for a title. So it was just one of those things. It's like the process of elimination, you know, a list of six names gets debated and that gets down to three names. And then eventually it was down to two names. And then like the guitar parts being added in, people were still suggesting names, right until it was it was time, but something else ends up dictating it. You know, it's like the art is finished. It's like you've got somebody doing art for the album, designing it or whatever, and they need to know what the title is and you're like, it's one of these three. And they're like, then gets to a point where it's like, the vinyl needs to get pressed. So it's like the designer needs to know what the title is. So we need to know what the title is. So it's one of these three. Everyone shut your eyes and point to one. You know what I mean? Like sometimes it can be really meaningful to us. This one felt like the idea of, of this, like, rumor mill just felt relevant to a lot of the songwriting. So I think it, it, it got the win in the end.
Okay. So really, it was like the last piece of the album to fall into place.
The album was a series of last things falling into place. I mean so many bits were changing. So many things were in a state of flux. Like parts were changing, parts were changing right until the last moment. But certainly this unlocked a few things in the sense that I feel like you got more chance to change parts of songs than you do with the title in some respects, because somebody's got to go and print some vinyl.
But yeah, it was, I guess it's just the nature of turning an album around so quickly. I mean, you know, certain bands do it all the time. For us, it's the quickest turnaround in the in the band's history. You know, normally it's taken two years. Two years feels like industry standard in many ways. I like working, I like working on it. It's been pretty full on doing it. I think the main reason it's full on is because you kind of got to sing for your supper to pay for it. So like, I guess normally you put an album out and then there is that chance just to decompress, play some shows, start writing the next one. When you're doing all those things together, you know, you you're paying, you're playing shows to pay for the album, to pay for the art, to pay for the vinyl, to pay for whatever it is. While you're finishing an album, while you're writing. It's all all consuming.
And you mentioned the cover art and I just wanted to talk about that really briefly. The last couple singles have also featured their own paintings in the same style as the one we're going to see on the cover. And I've always just thought that, you know, good cover art often plays a bigger role than what we give it credit for a lot of the time. And so where did these come from?
I agree with that. Like, I think striking cover art is huge, and it really is. I suppose like film clips are another really important visual representation of a band. That's something that I find really challenging because you've got to have a relationship with somebody great. You've got to have a lot of thought goes into a clip. And a lot of money goes into a clip unless you can kind of think of something to do cheaply, which is engaging. And I've just always struggled with clips and I haven't found it that enjoyable. Whereas cover art for me is like a really enjoyable thing to think about and to consider. I think we all enjoy it. I think with this one, Gary Abkin is the artist and I've seen some of his art. One of his paintings is in a friend's living room. And so I started looking at Gary's work and it just felt it's got this kind of, I don't know, it feels like there's a contrast in his work, which is interesting to me. Kind of speaking. It's very Australian. And then it's kind of this these strange gunslinging scenes which I don't know, it just feels like there's this, I don't know, a dissonance there or something. I don't know, it's just interesting to me and it felt really relevant and I just loved it. And so we got in contact with Gary and he was just super into it. You know, he really wanted to work out wanted to be involved. And then that's again, it was just a decision on the fly. I think Sam and the band was like, let's make the, let's make the tour art. Let's make the album art. Let's use a single art. Let's use different pieces of his work to create a continuity. And, you know, we made that decision after we put "Good Sleeps" out. So it's just a funny example of decisions on the fly because that single's got a different art, different artwork, and you know, who cares? But like, it's just the classic, it's us.
So yeah, when we saw the horse, it just felt like — we've got a weird horse thing where all of our backdrops when we play live, we've got this stupid banner where there's this, these like horses running across a range. We've got like endless nods to horses. Sam's got a few tattoos of horses. I don't have any horse tats, but I should. And seeing this horse, this falling horse, you know, it just felt, it was just sort of the one straight away, you know, this big, proud, beautiful animal taking a tumble. You know, there's not many things more beautiful, majestic, strong, amazing than, you know, than a horse. And it's just, it's, it's taken a tumble. And that just feels like what's going on at the moment out there. The horse is taking a tumble.
It's good to hear that at least, you know, you had parts of it that just fell into place really easily with really no debate. I haven't, you know, checked out the rest of his work, but.
He's amazing. He's an American artist. I'm not sure where he's from in America, but he lives in Brisbane, so he's he's an expat.
That's cool.
Gary Abkin. Check him out.
Yeah, I definitely will. Before we move away from the album completely. You know, we talked about some of the songs from it. I think I read something about a song that didn't make the album, but I think you mentioned it in the context of possibly repurposing it in the future. And so how often does that sort of thing happen? I seems like you guys probably have just a very extensive sort of repertoire of songs that, you know, might be used for something at some point.
Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's a toughie. I feel like there are so many songs and ideas which don't work for whatever reason. Not so many. But like in every album or in every writing process, or there's always songs which you can see potential in, but they just don't quite eventuate for whatever reason. So many reasons, you know, you just don't quite have the lyrics. You just don't quite have the melody. You just don't quite have the structure. You can see it there. You just can't quite get the pieces to fit. And so they kind of, you know, they go into that back paddock or whatever. And they, they're kind of in like song purgatory or something, you know, and then you can kind of, if I'm feeling energetic or if I'm not feeling inspired by anything which is happening, then I'll go back through and, and dig things up. I haven't done that for a while, but my voice memos are full of shit. The boys are always sending stuff through. There's more kind of considered demos from through logic or something like that with which are all kind of sitting there. And that was an example of a song where, yeah, it's got some really nice parts in it. I wonder if we'll use it in the future. It's it was like a little bit more of an indie. It wasn't like overly interesting to us, but there was something about it, which was cool. But yeah, it happens all the time. It happens all the time. And I think for the next, you know, the way I'll write now, like I just, we'll pick up a guitar and something might happen and then I'll so there's a bunch of sort of half baked ideas in my memos, which when I get time, I'll start putting together, I think and thinking a little bit more about how they could be used for another one.
I wanted to quickly talk about some shows you have coming up. So you've got tour dates in Australia for June, July and August. And I understand there's actually a little, there's a different kind of tour coming up this month too. Is that right?
Yeah. I run a tour called Guts — Guts Touring — and it's through my work. A foundation called Bush Music Fund, and we go out to remote communities in Central Australia, remote parts of Australia, and we put concerts on. So that's happening next week. In the past I've played a few songs. I think the lineup is pretty amazing this year it's got Rolling Blackouts, Coastal Fever, Stella Donnelly and Docker River Band. So I don't think I don't think I'll be required, but I'll be certainly driving the bus and running around frantically. But then, yeah, we just came off a run with Bad//Dreems, who are kind of going on a hiatus or whatever it is. We just played Brisbane and Sydney over the weekend and then the next day it's yeah, the album tour, which is exciting. So hopefully we can keep shifting a few tickets for that.
Yeah. And you just earlier this year you played in Sri Lanka too, is that right? It looked insane. I mean, how did how did that trip come together?
There's an Australian fella, Barra, who, who set up a bar over there from scratch. And it's sort of it's calling it a bar doesn't really do it justice. It's this amazing compound that he sort of in, in a town which was, I think, not necessarily on everyone's list of places to go, for some reason, you know, it's so beautiful, but it's got this really quiet. It's a really quiet little village, Madiha. And yeah, 10 years ago, he just sort of started building this bar and it's turned into something pretty amazing. And he just loves Australian music, and I think it's always been on his list as he continued to establish to, to, to kind of bring bands over. There are a few hurdles and things like that. And yeah, I think now that we've done that, hopefully we can go back. But I think there are a lot of more a lot more bands that are seeing it as something to do because there are a lot of people over there, like the shows were great, there was an interest in it and the hunger for it. Obviously there were a lot of people who, a lot of surfers and things like that over there and travelers. And there's not a whole heap of original music that gets played. Like there's a lot of cover bands.
But it's, I think, you know, people in Australia, unless they're looking at Europe and America, they're looking to New Zealand and, you know, Indonesia, maybe some other parts of Asia. But you know, the subcontinent I think gets a little overlooked. India I think gets some stuff. But yeah, it just came about through a bloody Instagram DM. And we just had the best time. And the Barra and his old man and the people that worked there were just really special people. So yeah, we, we, we loved that. It was, it was a special trip.
That's great.
First time heading overseas for the band.
Okay. Yeah, I was wondering about that. Any plans to continue that trend?
I think we do, like it's just tough timing for us. I think like we're in this funny state where everyone's got far bigger responsibilities than being in a band, you know, I think like, the band took a long time to settle to work itself out to get good enough. We weren't a band that were good straight away. We had to kind of craft, put songs out and put albums out and get better. And I think now we're sort of playing music, which is and our live show, and I think everything about the band is really good now, but it's a really challenging time for us all to pursue it beyond the way that we are, which is sort of a show, a weekend every now and then. That might change, I don't know, but we'd love to get over to Europe. The States seems sort of a bridge too far, but I think that there's a chance to get over to Europe, maybe in the not too distant future. We'll have to wait and see.
That'd be cool.
Nightmare. Sort of. Ten date, ten country run.
Where in Europe would you want to play?
We have some light following in, like, you know, France and Germany. Australian bands seem to do well there. And in Spain I think it would be great to like get over to Ireland and into the UK, but I think it would make most sense for us to go to some of the Scando places, France, Germany and and Spain. I think that's where the, the Littles crew are over there. That's where like we get hit up by the occasional promoter or whatever. We had a German label put out the last album out. So you know, that's where we'd go, I reckon.
Yeah. Maybe get them to help fund the trip as well. That can't be cheap.
I don't know, man. I don't know how this works. But we'll see. We'll see, one day. A bit of petrol in the tank.
Yeah. It seems like you guys just sort of, you know, go with the flow, but it just kind of seems like that's, that's what you've been doing for, you know, your musical career. And it's, it's just worked. So I really respect that. I'll just ask one more question here. As you look ahead to releasing the album — it's going to come out in just a few weeks at the time of recording this. What is the main thing that people should know about it if you were to share like one thought on it?
I think we're all really proud of the album. I mean, there's some really, there are some songs we just that we haven't played live that we're really looking forward to playing. It's, it's, it's an album that we all love. There's some really heavy tracks on it and there's some really light. There's some much lighter moments and yeah, I mean, I just hope it, you know, we've got like a really lovely little fan base out there and I hope they all enjoy ripping into it. And hopefully there's a couple of couple of new ears that that come across it as well. We'll have to wait and see. But yeah, I hope people just enjoy the the little hour it might give them away from whatever they're doing or why they're going for a run or whatever it is. You know, I don't that's not a word. But yeah, I hope people just get a kick out of it. You know, we get a kick out of it and hope people do as well.
