Best New Atlanta Music: Tealights – “Take Us By Sea” EP
It’s a rare band that can survive, let alone thrive, after losing their primary songwriter and vocalist. But Tealights seem to be a unique case of addition by subtraction. After a not so amicable divorce from One Hand Loves The Other brainchild Lou Rodriguez last year, the remaining three members had to go back to the drawing board and start all over. Mikey Johnson, Nancy Shim, and Mary Knight all took up trading off vocal duties and built a sound around their distinct talents. They picked up local legend Brett Kelly to play drums, and now with the release of their debut record, Tealights have emerged as a much more dynamic, interesting, and just altogether better band than OHLTO ever were.
The 28 minute EP contains 6 fantastic songs that demonstrate the range and diversity of sound this band commands. The outfit manages to blend together so many different sorts of styles into one cohesive hybrid. At times its trip-hop, at times its indie rock, at times its dream pop, and it all flows together beautifully.
The record is not without its imperfections, though. I have come to find that typically an initial release from a talented young band tends to suffer in its execution, and Take Us By Sea is no exception to this. What is surprising about that here is that the production side of the equation appears stacked, including Snowden’s Jordan Jeffares mixing. But for the most part, the technical flaws are overpowered by the sheer strength of the songwriting.
What is clear is that Tealights have an enormous amount of potential and Take Us By Sea is quite an accomplishment for a band that is still finding its identity.
Here is a teaser video for the EP giving a behind the scenes glimpse at the making of it:
They are currently on tour, and while they have been on the road, they did a Soldout Session with a nice stripped down version of “Passport”:
photo credit: www.bartramnason.com
Tealights will be at 529 Tuesday October 20th with White Hinterland.
- Posted by Davy Minor on October 16, 2009 at 8:37 am
