One listen to the band’s exhilarating new music and it’s clear just how much the trio has grown as a result of their meteoric rise. The gritty guitar, fuzzed-out bass, and driving drums are still front and center, but the songs are bolder and more ambitious this time around, deeper and more reflective, brimming with adventurous vitality while remaining firmly tethered to the roots of American rock and roll that have always grounded and nourished the group.
"After that first album, everything just got amplified,” says singer/guitarist Chris Vos. "Our lives got crazier and bigger and more complicated in the best possible ways, and our sound and our songwriting just naturally grew alongside that. We’re the same people we always were, but The Record Company isn’t just three guys in a living room anymore.”
While the band—Vos, bassist Alex Stiff, and drummer Marc Cazorla—still worked up most of the album’s ten new, original songs at home, they headed to nearby Boulevard Recording in Hollywood on a quest to break new ground. With Stiff in the producer’s chair and an eclectic array of analog gear in the studio - which has hosted everyone from Pink Floyd to Fleetwood Mac to The War on Drugs - The Record Company pushed the limits of their production and arrangements into uncharted territory, while still capturing all the irresistible power and spontaneity of their live shows. Mixed by Mark Needham, the resulting songs reflect our troubled times, looking inward rather than out, musing on personal empowerment, self-improvement, and the supremacy of love.
"This record to me is about making yourself better,” Vos explains. "It’s about owning your spot in the world. If you’re not on the right path, the only person who can take that next step to fix it is you.”