Lurch & Chief's rapid rise continues with the release of their much-anticipated second EP, Breathe.

Written and recorded over an intense two-week period in a run-down shack in country Victoria, Breathe saw the band mixing up their traditional music-making approach with stunning results.

Where traditionally the Melbourne six-piece's tunes have been born from all-in jams, the Breathe sessions had the band bunkered down for 12 hours a day, constructing songs from the ground up. The progress is immediately evident.

Lurch & Chief have come a long way since their sold-out (if slightly chaotic) first show at a Melbourne southside warehouse in late 2012. Formed as a creative outlet for close friends Alexander Trevisan (Lurch), Hayden Somerville (Chief), Lilibeth Hall, Brendan Anderson, Joel Rennison and Josh Lane, the band independently released a debut EP, Wiped Out, in 2013, home to debut single and triple J fave 'We Are The Same', along with fan favourite 'Mother/Father'.

For the follow-up, Lurch & Chief wanted to push themselves out of their comfort zone, so they headed to a small place in the Grampians. Dwarfed by the stunning sandstone mountain range and freed from their usual day-to-day routines, the band locked into a groove so powerful they felt the songs were almost writing themselves. The environment put them in their most honest state-of-mind and provided the freedom to be truly focused as a group for the first time.

The result is a thrilling snapshot of life as Australian twenty-somethings in 2015. With the band dynamic continuing to evolve, Lilibeth's role as co-vocalist is more pronounced now than ever before and the sonic palette has widened considerably. Driven by emotions including loss, love and anxiety, Breathe is a darker, more nuanced and captivating Lurch & Chief than we have experienced to date.