At the nucleus of Now Its Overhead is the songwriting of multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Andy LeMaster, who has long lent his talents to Bright Eyes and whose Chase Park Transduction studio has recorded the likes of REM, Drive-By Truckers, The Glands, of Montreal, and a host of Saddle Creek label mates.
Since the first, self-titled Now It's Overhead release in 2001, LeMaster has crafted his compositions with the help of Azure Rays Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor, as well as drummer Clay Leverett, with whom Andy has played music for nearly two decades. This combination of talents has lent itself fluidly to the range of LeMaster's songwriting, the diversity of which shined throughout 2004's critically lauded Fall Back Open. 2006 finds Fink, Taylor, and Leverett in the studio with LeMaster yet again, putting the finishing touches on Now Its Overheads third full-length, Dark Light Daybreak.
Now Its Overhead has more than once evoked the term dreamy. Dark Light Daybreak is not exactly an exception its awash in the bands signature moody layers and wall of guitar. But if the previous two records were dream-like, Dark Light Daybreak is more akin to waking up.
Providing by one turn a desert-highway soundtrack, by another, a heartrending nostalgia for a moment just past the edge of memory, Dark Light Daybreak is sharp around the edges, with each songs elements being as distinct as the whole. A syncopated beat pops against an insistent bass line. The comforting patter of a keyboard is unsettlingly punctuated by overdriven, discordant voices. And throughout, Andy LeMasters reedy vocals, as diverse an instrument as any on the album, are as true in a fragile harmony as they are on a soaring, cathartic chorus. Whether delivering an acidic indictment or a hopeful sentiment, voice combines with lyrics to speak the collective experience of individuals.
Now Its Overheads latest offering sees LeMasters seasoned production skills synthesizing songwriting and recording; letting space and clarity serve as a thread of tension that runs through the album, unifying songs that range from stark to symphonic, buoyant to tragic. The range of Leveretts drumming and the variations of Taylor and Finks vocals shine through, adding to each song the expertise of musicians who stand back, listen, then bring exactly what needs to be there. Dark Light Daybreak runs the songwriting gamut, leaving not a moment to be missed.
LeMaster and friends have toured the United States and Europe alongside such bands as REM, The Faint, The Killers, Idlewild, Rilo Kiley, Tilly and the Wall, Desaparecidos, Idlewild, and Azure Ray. Now It's Overhead will again be touring extensively in support of Dark Light Daybreak. The album is due to be released on September 12, 2006 by Saddle Creek.
