For a few years now, the Australian music industry has been home to a band whose current iteration has roots spanning back decades.
In the early ’90s, the Sydney scene featured an indie-rock trio dubbed The Templebears. Issuing three releases across as many years, the group never released a debut album, ultimately splitting around 1992.
Its members would soon find themselves playing in bands such as Big Heavy Stuff and Atticus, before eventually re-emerging as The Templebears around 15 years ago.
Fast-forward to 2019, and those same members were still playing together, but this time they’d adopted the name The Electorate to represent their new sonic focus. That trio would release their debut album, You Don’t Have Time To Stay Lost, in 2020, and I highly recommend it if you’ve got the time.
Now in 2025, they’re back once again with a second record, this time called By Design. Like its predecessor, it’s exceptional, with a bit of growth and musical evolution on display.
This week, I was lucky enough to chat to Josh Morris of The Electorate to discuss the band’s history and its journey from conception to dissolution, and from reformation onwards to rebirth.
Anyway, have a listen to The Electorate’s By Design, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.
Listen to the Trusty Chords podcast via your preferred platform of choice here.
Josh Morris’ Trusty Chords
Josh’s One Influential Artist
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Kim Deal
And a few honourable mentions:
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PJ Harvey
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Tom Waits
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Wilco
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Fugazi
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LCD Soundystem
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The Beatles
Josh’s Three Impactful Albums
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Split Enz – Time And Tide (1982)
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LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver (2007)
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Fugazi – Red Medicine (1995)
Josh’s Five Trusty Songs
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Talk Talk – ‘Life’s What You Make It’ (1986)
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Big Thief – ‘Mythological Beauty’ (2017)
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Julia Jacklin – ‘Body’ (2018)
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Tom Waits – ‘Jockey Full Of Bourbon’ (1985)
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Dionne Warwick – ‘Walk On By’ (1964)
And one honourable mention:
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The Beatles – ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ (1967)