Having shared stages with the likes of Ariel Pink, Dirty Projectors and Shellac in recent years, Melbourne synth-pop fourpiece Pikelet return in 2013 with their third album Calluses. Due in August 2013, Calluses follows on from their Australian Music Prize-shortlisted 2010 album Stem, and 2007 solo debut Pikelet.

The band began as a solo project mid last decade for Melbourne musician Evelyn Morris, and has progressed in bold, inquisitive steps since becoming a fully-fledged live band in 2009, with the addition of drummer Matthew Cox (Witch Hats), synth wizard Shags Chamberlain (Lost Animal) and bassist/guitarist Tarquin Manek (Bum Creek).

Pikelet was made mostly with an accordion, percussion and a loop pedal. It came out to rave reviews, Pitchfork write-ups and community radio high rotation. Evelyn toured the world in solo mode, playing Pikelet shows with Jens Lekman in Portugal, Jeffrey Lewis in France and Bachelorette across America. Back home she appeared at festivals like Golden Plains and Laneway, and opened for Sufjan Stevens, Beirut and Goldfrapp among others.

When full band second album Stem emerged in 2010, the expansion of Pikelet's vision was immediately apparent. The live band brought a cosmic edge that infiltrated Evelyn's exploratory style with kaleidoscopic results. Glowing reviews followed, as did Triple J rotation and community radio Albums of the Week. Fittingly, the album was one of nine records shortlisted for the 2010 Australian Music Prize.

Since then, the band have toured Australia extensively, playing their own headline shows as well as shows with Ariel Pink, Dirty Projectors, Devendra Banhart, Dirty Projectors and Broadcast (among others), and festivals such as Mona Foma, Queenscliff and Melbourne International Arts Festival. Evelyn also drummed for Japanese noise legends the Boredoms at their Melbourne International Arts Festival Show, and toured nationally supporting Shellac in solo Pikelet mode in late 2012.

The band have now finished stunning third album Calluses, a boldstatement of artistic ambition and new purpose. Teaser track Pressure Cooker was premiered by Spin.com in May, and the album is due for release on Chapter Music in August 2013.

"An offbeat koan for romantic Aussie adolescents" - Pitchfork
"Glimmers with continued promise" - Spin
"Stem is a modest masterpiece" - Big Issue
"Sumptuous, somersaulting summer music" - Herald Sun
"A musical for modern wonderment" - The Sunday Age

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSFxPYo97zc