Phrase

The routine. The grind. The daily. Some do their 24-7 on a treadmill.

Not Phrase. He maintains a sharp eye on the day-to-day and stays above the vicious cycle. To him, it's Clockwork. Clockwork, the new album by Phrase, is about time. And times have changed.

Forget what you knew about him. His acclaimed APRA and ARIA nominated debut album, Talk With Force, was yesterday. Clockwork is not only about the now. It's about the next.

Phrase has crafted a stellar sophomore effort, tweaking his beats, his narratives, his world view.

"Clockwork represents the last four years of my life,'' Phrase says. "It represents change."

Phrase, from Melbourne, Australia, endured broken relationships and personal tragedy while making his new album. The cruelest blow was losing his close friend, Nathan Smith, to a seemingly uncaring mental health system. That loss is detailed in the standout cut, Chains.

"He was a normal kid who ended up in the system," Phrase says. "And he came out more messed up than when he went in."

These life-changing incidents gave Phrase much-needed moments of clarity.

"It made me wake up my circle of friends _ people wasting opportunities and making bad decisions," he says. "It made me want to get out and make the most of my time."

That bold maturity, and sense of purpose, keeps Clockwork ticking. The title track, a JJJ hit, is an anthem for life in a rut.

"I've come to a point where I'm comfortable in myself, what I'm doing and where I am in life," Phrase says. "I used to be an angry young man. I spent too much time and energy trying to be the tough guy. However, I was knocking my head against brick walls."

But don't get it twisted. Phrase is still upset. He's furious at the system that failed Nathan Smith. He's frustrated by the distractions that mask the real questions.

"They dangled a carrot in front of my face," he raps on a new cut, Spaceship. "To stop me from hunting for food for thought.''

Phrase, as always, is pushing things forward. Aptly, producer Jan Skubiszewski (J-Skub), who oversaw Clockwork, is a futurist, too. Skub helped Phrase sculpt a live sound for Clockwork.

"I didn't want to make another hip hop record," says Phrase. "I wanted less loops and more live instrumentation."

From there, they raided their parents' record collections for inspiration.

"We got a lot of ideas by listening to Cold Chisel," he said. "Then we built our own riffs using live guitar, drums, bass and strings."

Those electric underlays power Burn It Down, a potent rhyme about priorities.

"All I need is the bare essentials," Phrase says. "My family, my friends, my music, and what I want to do in life."

Of course, Phrase hasn't forgotten where he's from. Back To The Street retraces his steps to success and hip-hop factions.

All Good is an honest portrait of life on the suburban fringe, a kid with no-name brand runners and a rap dream.

Now, with his second album, Clockwork, Phrase has furthered his aspirations.

"I still take inspiration from the darker side of life," he says. "I have issues with the system. I don't want to live by somebody else's rules."

And to those that think otherwise, Phrase knows what time it is.

It’s Clockwork.

Bio courtesy of Universal