Neo-soul, Boston-based pop-rockers Lake Street Dive had been together going on 14 years when they started shaping their seventh full-length album, "Free Yourself Up." The swaggering May release became not only an exhortation to the listener, but a statement of purpose for the band as they explored new territory in method, production and personnel.
"I think we maybe were able to finally try something out that we were past due for, to be quite honest," explains drummer Mike Calabrese. "It was a little bit [a feeling] of, 'I didn't realize how much I needed to get out until we started doing it.' And that made it all the more exciting and energized in a big way. It's like being a kid again."
FAQ
Lake Street Dive
WHEN — 8 p.m. July 19
WHERE — George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville
COST — $30-$32
INFO — lakestreetdive.com; georgesmajesticloun… or 527-6618
BONUS — The Rad Trads will also play.
That energy was spurred from the combination of self-producing for the first time, following a completely collaborative songwriting process. Where in the past the foursome would write separately, "Free Yourself Up" came out of passing bits of songs around, revisiting old voice memos and song clips and letting another group member rework them. On top of a new writing process and deciding to self-produce, the band brought touring keyboardist Akie Bermiss into the studio and into the lineup -- officially growing the college friends to a five-piece.
"Because we work so well and because we had been doing it just the four of us for so long, it's really refreshing, and we're very grateful to have him not only expanding our sound, but expanding us as people," Calabrese shares.
"Thinking about the band as a business but also a creative entity, it's more important than ever as it grows [to] not lose sight of how we got here," he goes on, addressing all the development. "There are certain structural things that need to change and take place just for the actual act of growing. And then there are other things that if you abandoned them or replaced them would keep you from maintaining the essence of what you are. It's a very vague thing. But more than ever, it's holding onto that [essence] no matter what happens -- no matter who gets a viral retweet; no matter how big of a venue we play. As everything grows, staying the same at the same time, that's the challenge."
As is the nature of growing up, big changes outside the band also affect that growth as marriage and families and mortgages now shape the work/life balance for each band member and, in turn, inform the music.
"It's the most genuine record we've ever made," Calabrese says of "Free Yourself Up." "Earlier records were maybe genuine because we were innocent, we were younger. But this is not only genuine as a musical statement from us -- having matured as a band and players and writers and producers now -- but also matured just as people. You turn 30, and it opens up the things you care about and are worrying about and are looking forward to and are dreading. And it changes the content of what you feel you need to express, which is why we write songs. So it's genuine and it's accurate. And for the current time, it's appropriate for us."
NAN What's Up on 07/15/2018