It’s nearly impossible to discuss indie pop in this decade without touching down on Lousiana quintet GIVERS.
It’s nearly impossible to discuss indie pop in this decade without touching down on Lousiana quintet GIVERS. Hell, do a Spotify search of indie pop playlists and find them on all but a few, with most appearances probably anchoring the playlist. The band’s 2011 debut record In Light was a delight to music fans across the spectrum as they infused the afrobeat Vampire Weekend had brought back into style with a highly concentrated dose of pop melodies. Turn on “Up Up Up” and “Saw You First” and you’ll quickly start to wonder why radio spent 2011 obsessed with Maroon 5 and Katy Perry when this music was out there and gaining traction.
Four years later though, GIVERS are almost a completely different band, one removed from the carefree days of youth that concretely defined their first record. Now, the band are almost chiseled road warrior that are taking their world music roots, whether it be afrobeat or zydeco, and pushing it into a completely new sonic dimension. On their new record New Kingdom, the band barely sounds like themselves, though the infectious energy they created on their first record is still there permeating every song.
“For a band like us, it made sense not to revisit old places, but to create new places and explore them.”
That’s guitarist and vocalist Taylor Guarisco explaining the concept behind the aptly titled New Kingdom, a record he described as “expanding on both sides – the artful and the more melodic.” He further explained that moving forward with a different sound was almost an unspoken aggreement with the entire band. There wasn’t as much a gameplan as just an understanding that they had gone to the well with the super pop of their first record and needed to find a new landscape to place their grooves in. “In Light had all of these different qualities and places we went to and we knew we wanted to go to all new places for this one. That’s where we feel comfortable and where we’re doing ourselves justice – by not repeating ourselves.”
Many have noticed the abscence of afrobeat in their new sound, most being surprised considering it was almost their calling card in the beginning, but as Guarisco mentioned, it was old territory for the band and they were striking out for something new. “It’s not to say we specifically aimed to have no afrobeat songs. We just started writing songs and halfway through the process we noticed there was none of that sound. We succeeded subconciously in that regard by taking all the energy of GIVERS, the forward motion and pummeling trajectory of groove oriented music, and pushed it in a different direction.”
Guarisco stressed how the sound may have changed, but the energy was still there and unmistakable. To hear him clarify, it wasn’t so much a departure from the sound, but a group digging deeper under the surface to really obtain something memorable. “There’s just more depth to these songs. There’s a common thread with a lot of these songs that have a danceable nature to them, but there’s more variance on this record. More depth of emotion, yet still maitaning that energy and feel of In Light.”
The band’s single “Bermuda” serves as a perfect example of this. The harmonies and rhythms still shine, but there’s much more bubbling under the surface than say on “Up Up Up.” Because of perfectly executing their lofty ambition, it not only became a logical choice for the lead single, but also one to easily point to when discussing where GIVERS was going. “I found myself showing that song to people first. Friends and family. I felt proud and good about where we landed on it and how it came out. I was just telling people, ‘Check out this fuckin’ cool and weird place we’re going.’ It’s still GIVERS, but we’re in this radically new place that lets us explore music like a new band would.”
Hearing Guarisco describe the new record with words like “depth,” “variance,” and “importance” slightly portrays a dissastification with the first record, but he was quick to jump in and say the first record had its rightful place in time. “It has a deep place in my heart. For a young band to make a record and it come out that way, it was just perfect the way it is. I think every band could go back and overanalyze their records and get nerdy about it, but it was just that – a record of who we were in that moment. It’s exactly what it was supposed to be from a young, excited band exploring afrobeats on a record.”
As he described, In Light was perfect for what it was, but what that is no longer defines GIVERS. Instead, there’s a band that’s overcoming much of what critics delighted in jeering back in 2011. They’re not only diving deeper, but becoming confident in larger songs with more intricate layers and concepts. On New Kingdom, GIVERS find themselves not only comfortable in a new enviorment, but becoming the rulers of it while maintaining a clear vision for what comes next.
GIVERS play The Southern in Charlottesville this Saturday night with openers Doe Paoro. Doors are at 7pm with tickets being $12 in advance and $15 the day of the show. For more information on the show, click here.
