Cable Ties’ latest album All her Plans is a fast, powerful and raucous record that is sprawling in its thematic exploration. From mental health and addiction, love, dealing with a failing healthcare system, and to living in a world post Roe v Wade, the album is brought together by its unapologetic, personal storytelling. 

Jenny McKechnie and Shauna Boyle joined Jaimee Taylor-Nielsen on Arvos to break down songs from their new album and discuss the process of writing, recording and releasing them.

Penned by guitarist and vocalist Jenny McKechnie, ‘Perfect Client’ and ‘Silos’ are fast and drivey, with blistering guitars and impassioned, powerful vocals. They’re also two of the tracks where the anger of the album really shines through. Jenny witnessed the failings of the public healthcare system up close through a friend’s experience, forming a fiery expression of exasperation at the vicious cycles of addiction and complex mental health.

“It’s just a kind of constant cycle between being in and out of hospital, detox, and also like frequent contact with the police and in and out of the courts, and that sort of thing… Which is not an appropriate place to deal with something that’s a health issue. So, yeah, that’s what that song is screaming about.”

These experiences, more often than not, are wrapped up in taboo and swept under the rug. The catharsis of telling these stories and expressing that anger is felt through the songs, and Jenny speaks about the challenging process of putting them to paper. 

“I sort of avoided it, but actually through the process of writing it and then through the process of, you know, starting to play it to people and get to talk about it, get to like voice all this frustration that’s been going around and around and around in my head for so many years.”

Equally as driving, but with a somewhat bouncy and upbeat feel, the track ‘Thoughts Back’ sees drummer Shauna Boyle taking lead vocals for the first time.

‘Time For You ‘ is a powerful, assertive declaration of love and affection for another person, pitted against the chaos of daily life. As Jenny sings in the chorus, “I got no time but I got time for you,” personal struggles are wonderfully separated from the experience of being with another person.

“I just feel like I’m constantly running around, like trying desperately to hang on to all these things. And then I could just get home and kind of drop them and sit down on the couch or whatever with my partner or just sit and have a conversation.”

Although the track is a deviation from the other themes on the album, it’s the same sure footedness that allows Cable Ties to explore how love and anger are a part of the same world experience. 

Nearing the end of the album, ‘Change’ has a noticeably looser, darker feel. Thematically too, it has a much broader conceptual reach. It’s a more desperate grasp of how difficult it is to find hope when nothing seems to change. 

This song also features one of the more striking vocal performances from Mckechnie. Cutting through the dense jangle of guitars and booming rhythm section, her vocals soar with desperate declarations of frustration. She attributes this added energy to some key moments in the lead up to actually getting in the studio and recording the vocal take.  

“Roe v. Wade was overturned in the States. And I think it was, I don’t remember if it was the next day or like it must have been only a couple of days later that I went in and recorded the vocal take. And so it wasn’t about that, but I was pretty fired up from it.”

In this collection of explosive tracks Cable Ties hope you can feel the rage, as well as the tenderness. Listen back to the full interview with Jaimee Taylor-Nielsen up top, or stream All her Plans below.