Let
It Sway
isn't just the title of Someone Still Loves You Boris
Yelstin's third full- length -- it's a philosophy that
ultimately helped save the band.
After enduring numerous tension-filled sessions while
self-recording 2008's Pershing, the band members
decided it would be best to relinquish control over
production and pursue new options when it came time
to record their next album.
"With Pershing we tried to micromanage
our sound and it wasn't a fun process," recalls
drummer/vocalist Phil Dickey. "So for the new record
it seemed like a good idea to try something we've never
tried before."
Plus, as guitarist/vocalist John Cardwell adds, “It
just seems lazy to not want to make the best-sounding
record possible.”
Not knowing which producer to contact, they began their
search by reaching out to Death Cab For Cutie guitarist
and respected engineer Chris Walla -- a fan and friend
of SSLYBY since the release of 2005's Broom
-- to see if he had any recommendations.
Unexpectedly, Walla quickly replied he had the perfect
person in mind -- himself.
And so, at his suggestion, SSLYBY made the trek from
their hometown of Springfield, MO to Madison, WI --
home of the famed Smart Studios (Nirvana's Nevermind,
Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish). Working with
Walla (Tegan and Sara, The Decemberists) and resident
producer Beau Sorenson (Death Cab For Cutie, Sparklehorse),
the band members crafted the final list of 12 songs
that appear on Let It Sway.
"When we got to the studio the songs were about
75 percent completed, which ended up being perfect,"
says guitarist Will Knauer. "It allowed them to
grow naturally -- with Chris and Beau guiding the songs
with sounds we wouldn’t have had access to and
ideas we wouldn't have had thought up ourselves."
The influence the producers had on shaping the finished
album is especially evident on “Sink/Let it Sway,”
a song that Walla and Sorenson helped sculpt from ideas,
fragments, and four different demo versions into a complete
whole, as well as “In Pairs,” a short, infectious
track the band had never played together until Walla
heard the opening riff while setting up mics and exclaimed
“We have to record it!”
"For the first time, the goal was to write good
songs and not worry about how they were going to be
produced," says Dickey. "We trusted Chris
and Beau 100 percent."
That faith was certainly not misplaced, as Let It
Sway takes cues from the band’s quiet Broom-era
bedroom recordings and couples them with the polished
sound of Pershing to create a whole new aesthetic
most evident on songs like album opener “Back
in the Saddle” and the slow burner “Stuart
Gets Lost Dans Le Metro.”
Ironically, despite its high-profile studio origin,
the record has a more authentic and "live-sounding"
feel than if the group had recorded at home.
"We generally tracked one song a day and just used
the best performances -- even if there were little flubs,"
reveals Dickey. "Chris and Beau decided to do it
that way, which is good because we're perfectionists
and would probably still be recording the album today."
In the end, the circumstances surrounding the making
of the record -- in which the band rode bikes to the
studio each morning and slept on the floor of Sorenson's
home (while Walla inhabited a tent in the backyard)
-- was exactly the kind of environment SSLYBY needed
to recapture the essence of what it is to be a band.
"Recording the album reminded me of how everything
was when we first started playing together," says
Dickey. "Everything about making music with your
friends seemed fun and perfect all over again."
As Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin learned firsthand
-- when pressure is mounting, sometimes you just gotta
Let It Sway.
Someone
Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is:
John Cardwell
Philip Dickey
Jonathan James
Will Knauer
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