Long before the excellent Oakland rock quartet The Heavenly States headlined our Presents show in late 2007, we began eagerly awaiting the follow-up to their well received 2005 album Black Comet. Released earlier this year on The Rebel Group label, Delayer is a strong work which displays the band’s skill at applying rich instrumental texture to all-out rockers and more contemplative numbers alike. At the same time, the lyrics consistently resonate with wit and honesty, giving the whole CD the feeling of a unified and personal worldview.
As we learned during our interview, the delay (no pun intended) in the new record’s arrival is in part attributable to the attention the band received for being the first American act to tour Libya following the lifting of the trade embargo between the the US and the former “rogue state.” And while that trip cut short the band’s recording schedule for Black Comet, they spent significantly more time in the studio on the new CD, self-producing the record as a group. Needless to say, they’re very excited for people to hear the results.
We spoke with all four members at The Bay Bridged headquarters and discussed the new album’s place in their discography, reflections on the Libyan tour, and a slew of frequently hilarious anecdotes. Too many, in fact, for us to include them all in one episode and, for time, some great stuff remains on the cutting room floor. Along with the talk, we’ve got four Heavenly States songs, including two from Delayer and another two from their past works.
The Heavenly States celebrate the release of the Foggy Holiday Compilation put out by Talking House Records:
Friday, December 5th
Bottom of the Hill
with The Trophy Fire, The Federalists and I the Mighty
8:30pm, $10
