With the release of their debut album Gorilla Manor in 2009, Local Natives quickly became the latest alternative rock outfit to capture the attention of audiences and press worldwide.

Along with high praise and admirable comparisons with their esteemed peers, from the likes of Arcade Fire to Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear, the quartet (recently reduced from a five-piece) had a run which drummer Matt Frazier can only describe as a “dream come true.”

Almost four years later from the release of their debut, Local Natives have unleashed their sophomore effort, Hummingbird, into the hands of their very patient admirers.

Which quickly brings the old cliché of the ‘sophomore slump’ to the foreground, and the drummer is keen to meet those difficult second album issues head on.

“It’s just ingrained in our minds,” concedes Frazier, but he quickly dismisses the stereotype; “We were so in the swing of things, when we were making the record, the only pressures that we felt were just from ourselves.”

“At the end of the day we all just really wanted to make a record that we were all really stoked about and music that we were really proud of,” he concludes.“Aaron [Dessner, producer] was amazing to work with… [a] part wasn’t even written yet and he’d just be like ‘I’m going to press record, you just gotta play something’.”

Although the drummer admits, that “there’s definitely a curiosity with what people are going to think,” he relinquishes the validity of the second album stigma. “I think there’s more to the longevity of a band than whether the second record does well or not.”

Rather than stick to their namesake studio, after which Gorilla Manor was named, the Los Angeles band recorded their new album over three months in the music mecca that is Brooklyn.

Getting out of what Frazier describes as the band’s “little home bubble” is just one of the ways that the outfit pushed themselves out of their comfort zone when they were crafting the follow-up to Gorilla Manor.

“I think it indirectly affected the record,” professes Frazier, but the musician explains that there was much more to the band pushing themselves from safer territories than just a location change.

“On the first record we went into it having had the songs pretty much hashed out to play live for a couple of years and then we went to record them so everything was already 100% ready to go, just press play, record it, no question marks.”

“Whereas this time we went into the studio with the majority of it already written,” says Frazier, “ but there were still a lot of question marks and some experimentation was done in the studio.”

The recording process of Hummingbird contained much trial and error, but it was this new procedure that the drummer admits “helped to push us as musicians and to try new things.”

The catalyst for their new process was the album’s producer, Aaron Dessner, of The National fame.

“Aaron was amazing to work with,” gushes Frazier, “we’d go in and one of us would be up to record something, but the part wasn’t even written yet and he’d just be like ‘I’m going to press record, you just gotta play something’.”

According to the musician it was Dessner’s methods that helped Local Natives to try new things and operate in a way that they weren’t previously used to.

The outcome of their combined experiments in the studio was an album that still has the hallmarks of its predecessor, but also contains the right amount of growth for the band to retain credibility.

“We feel like the work we’ve done with the music is an evolution,” affirms Frazier. “Sonically and lyrically it’s not as light on its feet as the first record is, [but] it has a little bit more weight to it.”

“I hate to use the word darker,” confesses the musician, “but it has a little bit of a darker feel to it, while it still has the nature of who we are.”

While some might draw parallels between the darker sound of Hummingbird and the input of Dessner – a guitarist from a band well-known for their solemn music-making – there is an underlying theme of joy to Hummingbird. “The record is just us finding joy through all the hardest times, but still being able to find the good things in life.”

The album undoubtedly deals with its fair share of loss, but as the drummer explains, “even what could be seen as the saddest song on the record also has this feeling of joy, almost like a celebration.”

He admits that the record “comes from this dichotomy of emotions that we’ve gone through in the past couple of years,” but Hummingbird doesn’t school its listeners in yet another ‘hardships of the road’ type tale.

“The record is just us finding joy through all the hardest times, but still being able to find the good things in life,”

“Things happened after touring,” laments Frazier, “friendships, relationships, Kelcey [Ayer, vocalist/keyboardist/percussionist]’s mother died shortly after one of the tours… we parted ways with our old bass player.”

That would be Andy Hamm, who left the band in March of 2011, with the remaining members stating at the time, that it was “due to unresolved differences in the band.”

“[It was] just a lot of unforseen things, that were just jammed in one short period of time,” says Frazier in retrospect.

But throughout all the events that have affected Local Natives in the past four years, the four-piece have never questioned whether to disband.

“This band, for all of us, is therapeutic in a way,” expresses Frazier, “it’s like a family unit and I think having that helps us get through stuff like this.”

Australian audiences will get to experience the depth and complexity of Hummingbird in the live setting when Local Natives hit our shores this May, getting to experience the much anticipated second record in the flesh for the first time.

Frazier is positive that it won’t be the last visit from the LA group. “I don’t think any of us have ever doubted whether or not we wanted to keep doing this. This is definitely something we’re all in for the long haul.”

Hummingbird is out now through Liberator Music, read the Tone Deaf review here. Local Natives tour Australia this May, dates and details below. 

Local Natives 2013 Australian Tour Dates & Tickets

w/ support on all dates from Local Natives.

Wed 15 May Sydney | Metro Theatre (18+)
www.ticketek.com.au| Ph: 132 849

Sat 18 May Melbourne | Forum Theatre (18+)
www.ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Sun 19 May Brisbane | The Zoo (18+)
www.oztix.com.au | Ph: 1300 762 545

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