The Paradise Motel are a critically and commercially successful independent Australian band, first active from 1995–2000, who reformed in 2008. The Paradise Motel's instrumentation typically features two guitars (acoustic and electric), bass, drums, Hammond organ, pedal steel, and occasional accompaniment from a string quartet. Unlike many other Australian bands of the time the Paradise Motel were considered 'sonically adventurous' with their frequent deconstruction and reinterpretation of their own songs[15]. Their aesthetic was one of sparseness and melancholia, punctuated by bursts of manic loudness; or, as they once said in an interview, "the violence and the silence"[16]. Their lyrical subject matter often veered towards the melancholy and macabre, which results in comparisons to Nick Cave, TV series Twin Peaks and Mazzy Star, as did Sussex's vocal style[17]. Much of the Paradise Motel's songwriting came from Charles Bickford, whilst Matt Aulich was responsible for the string and instrumental arrangements in most of their tracks.