Kylesa's sixth album, Ultraviolet, is out May 28 on Season of Mist. It's the Savannah, Ga., heavy rock band's darkest, most atmospheric record to date. The collection, which features an array of subtle electronic elements, makes for an expressive, immersive listen that will likely find the double-drumming quintet a larger audience.
The 11-song LP was again recorded by guitarist/songwriter Phillip Cope, though fellow guitarist Laura Pleasants' presence is more readily felt via her increased vocal duties. I spoke with the two about the collection and the difficult period following 2010's excellent Spiral Shadow that led to it.
Pitchfork: Why the move toward a darker sound on Ultraviolet?
Laura Pleasants: Frankly, I was in a very dark place for a while and the only pieces of music I could write were ones with a darker content. Such is the twist and turns of life.
Phillip Cope: Same with me. The time period between Spiral Shadow and Ultraviolet was rough for both of us. I suggested the theme of loss for this album because I felt it was something both us would be able to communicate well with everything that had gone on over the past couple of years.
Pitchfork: Can you be more specific about this loss?
LP: I don’t think I’m ready to discuss it. It was hands down the worst period of my life and I don't really know how to express that publicly other than maybe through music.
PC: I think for the most part it is best to leave some of that stuff to ourselves; we weren't trying to write a "woe is us" kind of record. It is just that when things get really tough it helps to channel some of that energy into the music, but we try to do it in a way that is relatable to others.
Pitchfork: I've been listening to the lyrics-- words like "morbidity" and scenarios that feel like existential sinking: "You've lost yourself." Can you discuss?
LP: There were several specific instances. Some are harder to talk about than others. Although “You’ve Lost Yourself” refers to someone particular in my life, it generally has to do with losing your identity to years and years of outside influence and delusional thinking. But there are several themes to loss that most everyone can identify with: loss of love, life, family, friendship, fortune, hope, etc, etc. It’s how we deal with these things that make us human and hopefully through our music, it can bring about empathy.
PC: Each song has a theme based on loss that Laura and I had discussions on. Some songs are personal to each of us as an individual and some are just overall examples that aren't particularly based on us but experiences we have certainly been through. "What Does It Take" is about something I think most current musicians can relate too, especially in the underground. It is basically about how much you have to go through and sacrifice to be able to make a band work. In my case after almost 20 years of being on the road, living hard caught up with me, which included some scary hospital trips and some rough relationship problems. At one point during touring for Spiral Shadow I wasn't sure if I would physically be able to continue on. It was a really scary thought, as most of my life has revolved around playing music. I got myself in better health but the thoughts of how quick it can be taken away haven't left me.
Pitchfork: What inspired "Steady Breakdown"?
LP: I was thinking about the nature of free will and the paradoxes it presents. In this case, I am mainly referring to the will to live. The will to live is very strong in us by nature. To have life stripped from you in a manor where you can witness your own body and mind breakdown against your will, contradicts what we want to believe we are capable of.
Pitchfork: "Quicksand" includes the line "I'm choking on my own blood."
LP: I’m a very vivid dreamer and I always remember my dreams, and I tend to dream more when on tour. We did a European tour the summer of 2011, and I had this recurring dream where my teeth were falling out and there was always copious amounts of blood. I was trying to say something important to someone close to me, but I couldn’t talk because my mouth was full of broken teeth, bones, and blood. The song has a sorta poppy feel to it and I wanted to sing in that way as well. But I wanted the lyrics to juxtapose that vibe.
Pitchfork: "Low Tide" is a beautiful track. Can you discuss how that came about?
PC: This came about from a discussion I was having with my girlfriend around the time everyone was discussing whether or not the Mayan calendar would be correct. We didn't believe it would be, however we thought it might be nice to know the world was going to end so just for a little while all of the world's stress would be meaningless and you could just relax for a minute knowing none of it really mattered.
Pitchfork: You guys have a central sound that you modify, according to any particular record: two drummers, layered vocals, psychedelic guitars, a kind of forward thrust. But each album plays with that style and expands upon it. I'm curious how you found this specific new direction.
LP: I think you’re right. Although it can be risky to take such turns, Phillip and I were both interested in exploring new territories. Instead of hitting the listener directly throughout the album, this time we wanted to envelope them into an experience of textures and sounds surrounding the basic structure of a song, while still sounding like Kylesa. As it’s been stated before, we’re influenced by so much more than what is currently our said genre. I wanted to try to paint a picture with this music of what I had experienced the past couple of years without having to lay it out on the table. We both wanted to try to have the vibe and energy of the music transcend the normal linear nature of a traditional song/album.
PC: Also in a sense it found us. We certainly weren't thinking about this direction right after Spiral Shadow.
Pitchfork: The vocals are pushed back a little. The music sounds more foreboding and melancholic, less positive. Spiral Shadows had songs like "Don't Look Back", tracks that felt like uplifting anthems to me. There are certainly anthemic moments on Ultraviolet, but it's a different kind of catharsis. Were you reacting to Spiral at all? There's a lyric here about how everything comes around again-- a kind of idea that you do have to look back.
LP: Personally, I wasn’t reacting to Spiral Shadow at all. I just wrote. Had I kept writing without a deadline, the material may have come out a little differently...but you said it. This album is a different kind of catharsis.
PC I wasn't reacting to Spiral Shadow either. It is interesting that you point that out, but I still prefer to move forward.
Pitchfork: I'm interested in the electronic elements-- there's an undertow of blips and drifts and feedback. There's an almost new wave edge to some of the sounds; it's kind of cold wave. You get some at the beginning of "Quicksand" and then this great guitar part, which has a kind of Smashing Pumpkins tone to it. Also at the beginning of "Low Tide" on "Drifting".
LP: [Drummer] Carl [McGinley] started using electronic drums during the Spiral Shadow tour run. So by the time we were writing, he had a clear idea of how he wanted to incorporate some of those sounds into the new material. There are a lot more atmospheric and layered elements to this record-- Phillip played a lot of keyboards and other instruments to add those kinds of subtle “blips and drifts.” I love the sound a lot of the older new wave or goth records have. We’re fans of a lot of that stuff and I’ve been trying to craft those sounds for a while now.
PC: Cold wave was definitely an influence to me and I think we have slowly been adding those influences over time, this is just the first album where it was taken a bit to the forefront.
Pitchfork: Will you be recreating all these new electronic sounds in a live setting?
PC: Yes, we'll be able to recreate most of them, but some may change as time goes on-- sometimes live we can't always use everything we want to, but those elements will be there in some shape or form.
Pitchfork: I noticed that in some of the press photos for the new album it's just you two. Or sometimes you're pictured as a trio. Has there been a lineup shift?
LP: The core members of Kylesa are myself, Phillip and Carl. Eric is still in the band (although he is back on second drums), but lives in Miami so he wasn’t available to come up for the first photo shoot. He'll be in some of the others we have planned.
Pitchfork: Did going back and listening to the archives for last year's From the Vaults compilation influence the new record?
LP: Some of the guitar tones I got on “End Truth” and “Between Silence and Sound II” I really liked and knew I would use again, albeit tweaked a little.
PC: It helped me a lot because I was able to try some recording ideas out that I had been thinking about for a while. So I got to test them out and time to tweak them for the album.
Pitchfork: Laura sings more on Ultraviolet; those vocals feel "warmer" somehow, cutting against the darker, closer aspects. Do you agree?
LP: I hadn’t thought too much about that contrast, but I do agree with you.
Pitchfork: Either way, why the increased presence of your vocals?
LP: It wasn’t really a conscious decision on my end at all. I think it just sorta happened. Phillip took more of a multi instrumentalist approach on this record more than ever before plus he was the producer. I think he had his hands full and I had plenty of vocal ideas and lyrics so I dove into it.
PC: Yeah I did have my hands full. So I just handed them over to Laura and said do what you want with them vocally and when she came back with her parts I really didn't see any reason to add much more. We have never really had any stance where we feel we have to be even on vocals or anything like that. She was inspired, and I liked what she was doing so I focused on other areas of the songs. It could always change in the future. It just depends on what we are feeling at the time.
Pitchfork: How does the title Ultraviolet fit into, or evoke the album's atmosphere?
LP: In an abstract way, it fits perfectly. We understand that an ultraviolet ray of light is shorter than that of visible light and consists of higher frequencies than what we (as humans) recognize as the color violet. So, we know that this color exists but it’s not within our reach visibly. And, as humans, we are always reaching for the intangible; something that lies beyond our earthly reach.
Pitchfork: It's a more spacious record, too, than the last record. Songs like "Long Gone" have more meditative flows to them-- there are these discursive moments; less of a total forward push. So, darker, but also calmer?
LP: I think so, yes.
PC: I think it still has a few aggressive moments but for the most part I agree as well.
Pitchfork: At this point, how do you think you're perceived in "metal circles"? I like the comment about not following fads in the press release. Did you have something specific in mind when you said that?
LP: I did have something particular in mind but it’s kind of a moot point because we never follow trends; never have. In that sense, I think we stay ahead of the pack. We’re not followers; we chose our path long ago. Regarding “metal circles”, I think it depends on which circle you’re talking to. For some, we’ve never been “metal” enough and in other cases, we are welcomed with open arms.
Pitchfork: What are you goals from a success standpoint? I'm curious if crossovers by bands like Mastodon and Baroness raise the bar a bit for you.
LP: Journalists like to bring up Mastodon or Baroness when talking with us and I guess that’s fair because we’re all from Georgia. That said, their music has very little influence on us. What raises the bar for us (other than ourselves), are good records in general-- inside and outside our peer group. I think our goals revolve around longevity. This is our baby and we want to see it mature.
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