Photo by: Doron Gild
This week, our podcast features the excellent Oakland rock quartet The Heavenly States. Long before the band headlined our December Presents show, we began eagerly awaiting the follow-up to their well received 2005 release Black Comet. Released last Tuesday on The Rebel Group label, Delayer is a strong work which displays the band’s skill at applying rich instrumental texture to all-out rockers and more contemplative numbers alike. At the same time, the lyrics consistently resonate wit and honesty, giving the whole CD the feeling of a unified and personal worldview.
As we learned during our interview, the delay (no pun intended) in the new record’s arrival is in part attributable to the attention the band received for being the first American act to tour Libya following the lifting of the trade embargo between the the US and the former “rogue state”. And while that trip cut short the time the band’s recording schedule for Black Comet, they spent significantly more time in the studio on the new CD, self-producing the record as a group. Needless to say, they’re very excited for people to hear the results of their efforts.
We spoke with all four members over the weekend, discussing the new album’s place in their discography, reflections on the Libyan tour, and a slew of frequently hilarious anecdotes. Too many, in fact, for us to include them all in the episode and, for time, some great stuff remains on the cutting room floor. Along with the talk, we’ve got four Heavenly States songs, including two from Delayer and another two from their past works.
THS have their Bay Area album release show next Friday and it’s a great all-local bill:
Friday, March 7th
The Independent
with Citay and The Botticellis
9pm, $12 (purchase advance tickets here)
To hear more Heavenly States music and get all of the band’s upcoming tour dates and SXSW appearances, head on over to the group’s MySpace page. You can pick up Delayer on iTunes and from Amazon, where you can also pick up the band’s other albums.
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