“The record feels infinitely more creative than what we’ve been doing in the lead-up,” says Reuben Styles, one half of electronic music duo Peking Duk. “We’re calling it chapter two of Peking Duk. We’ve closed the book on chapter one and it couldn’t be more liberating.” That freedom stems from the fact that, for the first time since forming in Canberra in 2010, the duo focused on creating an album as opposed to dropping singles designed for Top 40 success. “The whole pressure valve was released when we started thinking not about each individual track, but instead about creating cool sounds and getting in the zone together,” says Styles. That creative liberty extends to Paradise’s concept, with Styles and co-founder Adam Hyde imagining an airborne pirate ship to riff on society’s obsession with fame. “We thought, ‘What if we had this spaceship or pirate ship in the sky that you can buy a ticket to, and you jump on board and everyone’s famous, everyone loves you,’” says Hyde. Here, the duo elaborates on the concept, and the album’s influences, track by track. “Jack Thompson” Adam Hyde: “Jack’s the man, plain and simple. To have him introduce the record, introduce the theme, and do it with his golden honey cigarette voice, is just an honour.” “Let Go” (with Matt Corby) AH: “If you look at a lot of Peking Duk music, it has this kind of melancholic, hopeful feeling to it. With ‘Let Go’, we were lucky enough to catch that in a bottle and get Matt Corby’s angelic voice and ideas on it as well.” “Spicy Margarita” AH: “This is the scene on the ship where the champagne bottles are popped. It’s set off on its voyage. Everyone’s shining in the starlight, moonlight, sunshine, whatever your version of paradise is. Let’s take our clothes off and dance, fill the bathtub with champagne and fly.” “Forget Your Life” AH: “A few of the champagnes have been sunk, you’re a few drinks deep and you’re like, ‘We’re on here.’ Now you’re seeing the universe, both within yourself and from the ship’s viewing deck.” Reuben Styles: “The pirate ship’s now doing barrel rolls through space.” “Forever” (with Phantogram) RS: “[The ship’s] now coasting, about to land on a new planet.” AH: “As far as the voyage and the journey is concerned, [it’s] the moment of longing and introspection. If you’re having a great time, there will be a somewhat bad time to follow, and that’s the nature of life.” “Do Your Best” (with Kah-Lo) RS: “It’s an homage to the UK garage and club scene. We’ve been listening to so much of that ’90s UK stuff lately.” “Make U Feel” AH: “If you’ve consumed some form of substance that’s got you geeking, then it’s going to be hard to sleep. We all aim for that target on the wall that is this standing-on-the-mountaintop, wind-in-your-hair, soaring kind of a song, and I think this is our shot. It feels triumphant.” “Paradise” AH: “This is an homage to electronic music. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel [de Homem-Christo]—Daft Punk—had two labels: Roulé and Crydamoure. You listen to those songs and they sound better than anything that’s ever been done. And they did it in the ’90s.” “Parramatta” AH: “It’s [a recording of] an Uber driver that Reuben spoke with. Paradise is whatever you make it. And this guy was just gung ho that Parramatta is paradise. And I think, ‘Good on you.’” “Thrills” (with Rico Nasty) AH: “We all have these moments, where it could be as little as having a conversation with a stranger on the street when you’re having a shit day, and it turns it all around. These little things can flip you around and make you feel invincible. It’s trying to put that in a bottle.” “About You” AH: “At the end of the tunnel that is the pursuit of clout, fame, follows, likes, it’s all about you. We’re all selfish creatures. It’s just echoing that sentiment of, all the love songs, all the nice poems, all the lights in the sky, everything’s about you. It’s almost sarcastic in its nature.” “Can’t Fit In” AH: “It’s about feeling like you can’t fit into this world of constant glitz and glamour and fame and the pursuit of it all. It’s just saying, ‘I don’t give a fuck,’ and celebrating within that lack of giving fucks. The freedom that comes with that is more joy than anyone could ever gain from fame.” “Alone” AH: “It’s another moment upon the ship of paradise where you might be away from the party for a sec and you’re thinking about all the things you’ve done wrong. Then you realise, ‘Oh well, there’s a party in there, let’s go back in.’ You go back in and, boom, the beat knocks you over the head.” “Famous” AH: “This is when you’ve reached that mountaintop—I’ve got everything I wanted all in a little ticket to paradise. It’s also quite sad in a way, like anything good when it comes to an end. The outro rings true to that. It’s almost like you’re looking at the ship from afar and you see it go into the stars and it becomes another speck across the universe. It felt like the perfect way to part the story.”