“Great Gable is a mountain in the UK that my family and I climb up every year to visit my granddad’s ashes that are spread up there,” explains vocalist Alex Whiteman of the Perth quartet’s name. “We go to the Lake District, walk up the mountain, and then go to the pub for the rest of the week.” Great Gable’s roots stretch back to Whiteman’s childhood in Bunbury, when he started playing cricket alongside future guitarist Matt Preen. Bonding over artists such as Jack Johnson, by their late teens they’d moved to Perth, where they started assembling the outfit. Having solidified their lineup in 2017, and with three EPs and numerous tours under their belt, the band turned their attention to their debut album, Tracing Faces, written partially in a cabin among the karri forests of southwest Western Australia and recorded in Byron Bay with co-producers Alex Henriksson and singer-songwriter Matt Corby. Here Whiteman breaks down the LP track by track. Tracing Faces “‘Tracing Faces’ is about meeting someone that you really fancy, and those first months of the time you spend together. It was inspired by ’60s psychedelic music. We wanted the track to be kind of aggressive through the vocals but then pretty relaxed and mellow with the rest of the song.” Blur “It’s kind of about touring and not really being able to settle in a spot for a bit, and you just get caught up in the routine of staying up late and waking up early. But then it’s awesome at the same time. It was initially called Blur because we thought it sounded like Blur!” Deep End “It’s about finding the reason as to why you’re going to hurt someone, break up with someone, and then committing to following through for their sake. And just admitting that you feel guilty about it, but it’s better for the both of you.” I Wonder “I visit the UK pretty much every year because my family’s over there. That one’s just about being in the UK and having a crap day and the girl that you like calls and makes your day.” No Other Way “I suppose that’s quite similar to ‘Deep End.’ You’ve made your mind up but you’re like, ‘Thank fuck I’ve finally made the decision.’ I suppose it’s a more upbeat version of it.” Coasting “I was just singing about being yourself and not worrying about what everyone’s thinking. But we wanted the feel of the song to be quite trashy. So I think we recorded all the instruments and then slowed it down, and then I sang the vocals after that.” Don’t You See “That one’s just about meeting a girl and falling in love. Nothing too crazy about that.” All My Fault “It’s telling a story of hurting your best friend. I’ve always loved the slow songs on the album, so this one is a real nice one, I reckon.” All My Friends “That’s a song about getting too within your own head. The overall theme of the album is after I broke up with this girl, the ups and downs of going from breakup onwards, and changing. And ‘All My Friends’ is just what was going through my head, me just talking to myself too much and worrying about what my friends will think.” Outro “I think we were just out the back of The Music Farm, sat there with Corby, and Preeny [guitarist Matt Preen] was playing some chords on the guitar and I started whistling. I think Preeny was recording it because he liked the chords. We just wanted to finish the album off on this little thing.”