I came to know Local Natives when my co-worker came to the office gushing about attending their show the night before. They had just come out with Gorilla Manor and like juicy Pretty Little Liars text from A, Gorilla Manor was in your face, beautiful, pounding, and anthemic. That was 2009. Four years later, finally they’ve come and made Hummingbird, their strong follow-up to their previous success, spending time in between doing the festival circuit touring with other amazing bands like Arcade Fire and The National.
But that’s not the only thing that changed for Local Natives.
They parted ways with their bassist Andy Hamm in the spring of 2011 and even if that wasn’t hard enough, three months later lead vocalist Kelcey Ayer’s mother passed away. Her passing had deeply influenced the tone and the energy of the new record. Speaking with The Daily Beast, Ayer commented on the impact of both events on the band stating, “That was definitely really hard,” Kelcey admitted. His mother’s passing “and the Andy thing and there were also relationship issues and weird stuff that impacted the record and the mood of it and what we sang about. We didn’t set out to make a darker or sadder record, but we always write, for the most part, based on our experiences, so it’s a kind of window into the last few years.”
As an avid fan of Gorilla Manor, I didn’t know what to expect walking into Hummingbird. Local Natives delivered probably the most impactful follow-up they could have created with this new album. There’s depth, there’s heart, there’s sadness and happiness. It most definitely leaves me wanting more. If you’re reading this, Local Natives, please don’t make us wait another four years for the next one.
Best Tracks: Three Months, Black Balloons, Colombia, Ceilings
The album drops today, January 29 and but we have it ready for you to right here first. Listen to Local Natives’ new album Hummingbird right here at Much.com‘s First Spin section and check out other albums like k-os’ BLack on BLonde here.
Also Local Natives will be hitting up a few Canadian cities on their upcoming tour, check out their tour dates here and see if you can see them live!
Source
0 comments:
Post a Comment