photo by Matt Drenik

photo by Matt Drenik

For their upcoming album Vultures, Joshua Tree, California band Chelan is going big, in terms of instrumentation, production and vision. On “Beams,” the sound is lush and expansive, with layered vocals, analog sythesizers, guitar, drums, piano and cello. There’s an elegant richness that surrounds and envelops, with music and vocals that soar high, evoking majestic mountain ranges.

Chelan (pronounced “sh-lan”) started out in 2007 as the duo of Jennifer Grady, a classical music teacher, and Justin Hosford, a film and TV music composer. After releasing Equal Under Pressure in 2015, they invited drummer Chad Austinson to become a permanent member. They performed live together and wrote new music at Hosford’s Joshua Tree studio and producer Matt Drenik’s studio in Portland, Oregon. Doug Boehm (Girls, Guided by Voices) was also brought in to mix some tracks.

Vultures, their fifth full-length album, is set for release on August 26. It’s an ambitious release that pushes out from the simpler and quieter sound of previous efforts. As Hosford says, “Its been a fun challenge morphing from the mostly electronic, subdued indie aesthetic of our last couple albums to the wall of sound, big production synth pop thing we went for on this record.” It was mastered by Jared Hirshland of Elysian Mastering, with album artwork by Kime Buzzelli. The band is planning a spring 2017 tour.

Vultures Track Listing

1. Beams
2. Nothing You Can Do
3. Vultures
4. Nervous
5. Carry
6. Won’t Break
7. Photograph Remix
8. Can’t Ignore It
9. The Blue Piano

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