Back In Love (With Bands) And It Feels So Good
Words and photos by Ben Briand.
Charismatic, powerful, dynamic, spiritual, hypnotic, political, and inspiring - these are just a few words to describe The Preatures’ recent sold-out Sydney show.
Part of their highly anticipated national reformation tour, the performance had long term fans captivated, pressing against the barricade, having waited years for this moment to happen. And it felt like things were only just getting started.
In recent years, the music scene has been dominated by solo artists. Technology and the domestication of the bedroom super producer has overshadowed groups of musicians standing in a room or on stage making music together as a unit. Singular names striving to stand out have led to songs blending into one, hence the rise of numerous co-lab tracks. But it feels like the tide is turning back.
A year ago, over dinner at an East Los Angeles Italian eatery, The Preatures’ frontwoman Isabella Manfredi half-pondered, half-stated to me, “It feels like bands are coming back!” The recent mass love-in for fellow Aussies Amyl & The Sniffers was the conversation at hand (Manfredi had just come from dinner with fellow rock frontwoman Amy Taylor a few nights earlier) and the news of The Preatures’ reformation was still super hush hush. Manfredi’s tone was excited and yet cautious.
Fast forward a year, and if the sold-out Sydney show is any indication, that cautiousness has completely vanished, replaced by dynamic prowess. The Australian group’s songs have always seduced listeners with their deep soulful groove and a dark, pop rock edge. Their hooks are still as hooky as ever, and the musicianship is even better than before. But there’s something else - their performance feels more effortless. It’s not just comfortable, but assured with confidence. The Preatures are definitely back, firing on all their unique cylinders. We caught up with Manfredi post-show:
What’s the most noticeable difference in The Preatures who recorded Planet Blue Eyes in 2014 and the band that is touring the album in 2025?
MANFREDI : ohhhh my gosh, so much. We're older, better musicians, less attached, less whiney, more savvy, more mature, better players. Even better looking in some ways. Confidence and maturity have really been major developments in the band and we've found new ways of working together, breaking some old patterns that felt pretty toxic and destructive. I think we understand and appreciate more about what the band is separate from our own egos, and that's been nice to enjoy and honour that together. I think we're coming back to it from a place of enthusiasm. It feels good to be in love with what we do again.
The live show is a great mix of energy and it’s electric to watch. How does it feel to perform it ?
MANFREDI : We’ve all gone away and done other things and coming back to this material that we know inside out it's been refreshing to bring that experience back into the group. We've approached the show with the flair of a rock band, which I don't think we could've sincerely pulled off in 2015. It's felt beautiful to have that synergy with each other again. There is nothing like the feeling you work hard to create in a group, an effortlessness born of so much effort.
You’ve triumphantly sold out fifteen shows all across Australia with one more to come in Melbourne in November. What else does the future hold for The Preatures’?
MANFREDI : The tour was essentially sold out. As in, it was 85% sold across all shows. That's a win in today's books and we were pretty proud of the job we did coming back to the game as self-managed and independent. We knew we wanted to tour regionally because that's been an important part of our ethos as a group to get out into smaller clubs and pubs across the country and fucking do the work so to speak.
We're focussing next on two big recording projects that we'll announce soon and we couldn't be more excited about.
