Print-friendly Version
Polyphonic Spree trade in robes for jumpsuits, map spring tour
Symphonic pop act The Polyphonic Spree will pack its tour bus--or several of them--for a brief outing this spring, with the 22-member group ditching its characteristic flowing robes for a new look onstage.
The Spree will kick off a 7-city tour May 7 in Nashville, an outing that includes stops at the May 11, David Bowie-curated, High Line Festival in New York and the May 27 Sasquatch Festival in rural Washington State.
The group is also featured on the recently announced Lollapalooza lineup, set for Aug. 4 in Chicago. The band's full itinerary is included below.
Known for performing clad in flowing white robes, the Dallas-based group--led by former Tripping Daisy frontman Tim DeLaughter, who is backed by a guitarist, a bassist, two percussionists, keyboardists, woodwind and strings specialists, brass players and a nine-member chorus--will take a cue from the title of its forthcoming album, "The Fragile Army," when suiting up for its latest tour.
According to an item on the ensemble's website, the group will become "more streamlined for the future" in "unified military-style uniforms garnished with universal symbols for peace."
"We're gearing up for the evolution," DeLaughter said in a press release.
Due out in June, "The Fragile Army"--Polyphonic Spree's third studio album, and first since 2004's "Together We're Heavy"--was co-produced by John Congleton (of Dallas band The Paper Chase) and The Speekers (aka DeLaughter and Polyphonic Spree vocalist Julie Doyle).
"For our last record, we'd been on the road so long that songs had been developed there and were pretty much fully arranged by the time of recording," DeLaughter said in a press release. "But this is a very spontaneous album. We'd been off the road for a while, and all the players collaborated on the spot in the studio, learning one song at a time and then collaborating on ideas and parts."
