The Grave and Unfortunate Life of Lord Hoffway and His Magnificent Piano Talking Bird Entertainment – March 12. 2013

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The Idyllists’ latest record, The Grave & Unfortunate Life of Lord Hoffway & His Magnificent Piano (Talking Bird Entertainment; March 12, 2013), could not be more improbable. The Idyllists spent three years and two acclaimed albums making what one writer called “crisp, breezy Britpop” infused with “jaunty optimism.” British vocalist Ian Webber and his American bandmates toured the country—from New York’s CMJ Festival and Austin’s SXSW. They became a fixture in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles—with headlining, high-profile residencies at the Hotel Café, the Viper Room, and the late Spaceland. They gained an extensive international following—with singles featured across the media world, from television series (MTV’s The Hills, CW’s One Tree Hill) to advertisements (Volkswagen). Then, everything changed. Relationships ended. Day jobs were lost. Families were started. Bass player George Mohler moved to the Bay Area to take a job. Barge moved to New York for graduate school. After countless hours on the road, life was at an impasse, even if the band was never more cohesive. “The world ended up not being the way we thought it was,” echoes Matthew Barge, the band’s keyboardist and guitarist who shares songwriting duties with Webber. “So we made a record about it.” If the band’s first two records—2009’s The Long Hours Between Sunset and Morning and 2010’s The Idyllists—were doggedly sunny takes on young love and limitless future, its third is a relentlessly complex view of lives diverging and dreams amended. Melding the hushed melancholy of Coldplay’s Parachutes, the lyrical and rhythmic complexity of the National’s Boxer, and the raw intimacy of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, the Idyllists’ latest album is a moody, introspective, and immersive album from a band with a unified vision about music—and unclear vision about their place in the world. “I think that all of us, even though we haven’t discussed it much, found ourselves at similar life junctures,” explains Barge. “You start thinking about age, commitment, failing to live up to your own expectations about what your life would look like, being sort of surprised by how everything has turned out. I don’t think anybody really had it in them to do some more happy-go-lucky love songs.” In the winter of 2010, Barge migrated to LA from New York for the first time since relocating. The duo set up a small studio in Webber’s Laurel Canyon apartment for recording demos. There, over a series of winter storms, they wrote what would become the core of The Grave & Unfortunate Life . . . . Over three major recording sessions, co-producing with engineer Daniel Dempsey, the Idyllists tackled friendships dissolving, lives spinning apart, and uncertainties about the qualities of lives crafted. The Idyllists’ The Grave & Unfortunate Life of Lord Hoffway & His Magnificent Piano captures the confusions, concerns, and angst of trying to find the right life, or just a good life—and the uncertainties, insecurities, and regrets that go along with it—with tremendous musicianship, sharp melodies, and unwavering honesty.

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management: Zowie Vasquez, ZoGlow Management, zoglow@yahoo.com booking: Meg Olsen, megolsen@mac.com

press: Preston Bottomy, prestobotts@gmail.com

The Idyllists