Lush, Organic Sounds & The Pursuit Of Sincerity

It's been a long time between drinks for US country-rockers Band Of Horses in terms of studio output, but that doesn't mean that they get to start over with a clean slate. In fact the processes and structures behind their beautifully rendered fifth album Why Are You OK hark back not only to their previous album, 2012's Mirage Rock, but also right back to that record's 2010 predecessor Infinite Arms.

"With Infinite Arms we ended up kinda taking the reins and producing it ourselves in the end and throwing in everything that the studio could give us and every instrument we could find — we threw everything at the wall," reflects frontman and chief songwriter Ben Bridwell. "So from there the idea for Mirage Rock was to flip the script completely and go completely organic and track live and with minimal overdubs, so I was ready to get back to a more lush sound for one, but also just in terms of lyrical content and vibe I was looking to go a bit more sincere, or to try not to mix things up so much metaphorically or mask the words so much. I wanted to come from a more sincere place."

"There's a bit of the suburban middle-aged man thing going on — I have a gaggle of children."

This pursuit of sincerity can be partly attributed to Bridwell's growing parental responsibilities — he now has four young daughters — which inherently gives a different sense of perspective.

"There's a bit of the suburban middle-aged man thing going on — I have a gaggle of children," he chuckles. "Because I'm trying to write from a more sincere place I did have to write a bit more about myself, because I felt a bit stymied lyrically for a while there. I had some writer's block issues, and I found that the only way to get over it was to actually be a bit more honest with more storytelling.

"So I think there's a common thread there that's quite telling of where I'm at personally, just that awkward phase of going from being this young person in a rock'n'roll band to becoming a responsible citizen of the world, and also raising these children and making sure that I'm instilling some good life lessons and morals — just trying to raise other humans is crazy!"

Sonically Why Are You OK owes a massive debt to former Grandaddy lynchpin Jason Lytle, a long-term friend who oversaw the album's gorgeous production.

"While I was trying to think of who we might want to work with on this album his name was the one I kept going back to," Bridwell smiles. "Even though he doesn't have a large production pedigree with other bands it still seemed like the perfect fit, not just because we'd become fast friends but also because of his incredible knowledge of melody and recording techniques and being a lyricist and a singer and a musician — he's really got the whole the whole jack-of-all-trades thing down.

"The fact that it sounds like it does is testament to Jason's ear and his talent, and he's all over this record — he plays a bit of everything all over the whole album. It's a wonderful partnership, I'm so happy."