DEAS VAIL - "White Lights" EP - Biography 2008

Any band that harbors the notion of making music a career and not just a quaint pastime to someday share with their children, knows it must continually push past its own creative boundaries. With its new EP, White Lights, the Russellville, Ark. quintet Deas Vail does just that. White Lights, to be released by Brave New World on August 26, is by no means your run-of-the-mill EP release. It isn’t just a smattering of half-finished throwaways surrounding a single strong track. Each of the five songs here rightfully stakes claim to its own slice of this indie-rock gem.

Plucked from a stable of 15 songs, the group selected five for inclusion on the EP while the other 10 were earmarked for the group’s second full-length, currently slated for release in early 2009, also by Brave New World.

"There are so many bands putting out music right now, that we want to put out as much music as we can," Wes Blaylock said. "We want to continually push ourselves but we’re also trying to keep things interesting for our fans."

Back in the studio with producer Mark Lee Townsend (Relient K), the band searched for ways to build on what they had started with their previous release without simply replicating what had already been done. And while the band has taken notes from such modern-rock stalwarts as Death Cab for Cutie, Eisley and Mew, they earnestly began a maturation process that many acts fail at. To tweak the creative process they tried new things including writing in the studio together as a band, tinkering with how the drums were recorded, and even running various instruments through Leslies, the twirling speakers responsible for giving the Hammond B-3 organ its signature sound.

Nowhere is their maturing sound more prevalent, though, than in the purposefulness of their song construction. The arrangements ebb and flow skillfully, creating a build-up of emotion into powerful choruses, or by offering meditative turns into bridges that allow the listener to catch their emotional breath. In no small measure producer Townsend had a hand in this, as his string arrangements do more than just pepper the tracks, but find their own space in several of the songs.

Still present on the EP is Blaylock’s nimble falsetto, familiar to fans of the debut, but which now bears a newfound strength behind it as he threatens, at times, to throw it into a full-bore scream, before reigning it back in. Guitarist Andy Moore’s work, meanwhile, offers the perfect complement to Blaylock’s vocals, seemingly sweeping in from another dimension with big and bold riffs and intricate string work, such as on the country-tinged title track.

Joining drummer Kelsey Harelson in the rhythm section is bassist Justin Froning, who was added to the lineup after a search that included auditions. Together the pair offers a bombastic backbone to the proceedings, while Blaylock’s wife, Laura, colors the songs with her own work on keyboards and synth. Shedding the lyrical ambiguity of the band’s well-received debut LP, All The Houses Look The Same, Blaylock’s songwriting here takes on a more personal tone. For instance, "Undercover," which opens the record, and "From Priests to Thieves" both deal with a divorce that hit close to home for Blaylock and his bandmates.

"Each song has its own story to tell," Blaylock said. "Being able to write with particular events in mind was really therapeutic for me. Before, where the songs were vague and obtuse, they’ve now become more specific."