Following the release of its five-track EP “Whippoorwill,” folk quartet Darlingside will perform at Valley Bar on Nov. 12 for a harmony-based performance. Opening the night will be indie duo Frances Luke Accord, which will be joining the headlining band onstage to support Darlingside’s raw, room-filling performance.
Darlingside has been on the road since March, sightseeing across the country by day and performing for sizable crowds by night. Despite the challenges of being far from loved ones, having this successful headlining tour proves the band is several steps closer to becoming a folk phenomenon for indie fans.
The quartet’s greatest claim to fame is intriguingly simple: its vocals. Darlingside puts a noticeable focus on the voices of its four members, allowing its harmonies to become masterful compositions in themselves. As the band traverses into Phoenix, fans will witness these intentional arrangements as the group gathers around one microphone to best translate Darlingside’s music to a live audience.
“Our voices blend in the room before our voices hit the microphone, which is just the opposite from a lot of bands, where the voices are blending after they hit the microphone and the sound guy is making it blend,” said Dave Senft, Darlingside’s bassist. “That’s a huge part of our live shows, the fact that our harmonies are happening right next to each other.”
These harmonies, while not explicitly planned during the formation of Darlingside, are the backbone of the band today. This characteristic aspect of their music largely resulted from the fact that the quartet met in an a cappella group, where harmonic tunes were heavily emphasized.
“In a way, that’s basically the foundation of where we’re coming from,” Senft said. “The instruments and the songwriting and the arrangements are things that developed around the harmonies. The harmonies were the core from the beginning, so that is something we’ve always done and always had in mind as part of the identity of our band.”
Senft said fans will also see the quartet’s friendship as a large part of their live show product, as their closeness brings weird, captivating stories for the audience to enjoy.
“We’ve been friends for more than a decade,” Senft said. “There are a lot of bands that are close friends, but I think we are uniquely close. We try to present that as much as anything else when we’re playing a show. We just love to hang out and have a good time, and talk to the audience and talk to each other.”
This tour will provide Phoenix fans with their first chance to see “Whippoorwill” tracks live since the EP’s Oct. 7 release, which was accompanied by a new music video for a repurposed version of “Blow the House Down.” The video, executed by Darlingside cellist and guitarist Harris Paseltiner, joins together 3,000 pictures to tell a creatively animated story with tea light candles.
“I think he thinks back to that time with a little bit of post-traumatic stress,” Senft joked. “It was this insanely long process, but I’m really proud of the video, so I’m glad he did it.”
As the band performs songs from the “Whippoorwill” EP on Nov. 12, concertgoers will notice nostalgic themes similar to those on the 2015 album “Birds Say.” Written in the same era, but uniquely self-produced, “Fourth of July” deals with growing maturity, whereas a Darlingside-style cover of “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins was originally written about Billy Corgan’s childhood.
Similarly, the EP’s title song, “Whippoorwill,” is about a cabin that Senft ventured to every summer as a child. Having spent time there alongside the rest of his band in more recent years, this track ties childhood and maturity together, creating a complete circle of nostalgia.
“It’s where my mind goes when I’m thinking about what it means to be six years old and have no responsibility,” Senft said. “I’ve gotten to take the guys there and do some writing, so that’s just a special place for me and for the band. When we think about childhood, it’s one of those icons that pop up, that cabin.”
Darlingside is currently in the beginning stages of writing its next album, which Senft estimates will be released in 2018.
Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu.
