Sitting in on sound check, I feel like I’m part of my own private Elected show. I’m surrounded by slide guitars echoing off wooden floors and support beams. Lead singer Blake Sennett goes from a whisper to a desperate scream behind the microphone. A real blues man, he wears his heart on his paisley-patterned sleeve. Listening to Sun, Sun, Sun alone in my apartment has the same effect it’s having now. I want to pack up an RV, light some candles, and drive for miles under the stars. A melancholic organ loops with electronic drums and sound check officially takes a heartbreaking and dramatic turn, and it’s still an hour before the doors even open.
I sat down with Sennett before their headlining show at The Abbey, October 29 in Chicago.
1. You just recently went through Canada for the first time?
Well, second time. The first time was with Metric, we opened for Metric there, and we just went through alone to see if we had made any new friends in Canada, to see if anyone wanted to come out and see us based on those Metric shows. It was fun, it was cool. People showed up. It was fun. It was good.
2. You been in Chicago three times this year already. Do you like coming back here?
Yeah, we’ve played a bunch of shows in Chicago. With Metric and the Magic Numbers, and Stars, and now this. I like Chicago, but it’s just more happenstance that each of those tours went through Chicago. Hopefully people just aren’t totally sick of seeing us.
3. How’s the new record coming with Rilo Kiley?
It’s going good. We’re about 80 percent done, just got to go put some finishing touches on it when I get home and it’s going to get done when I mix it. (It’s expected to come out) early spring - March, April, May at the latest.
4. What’s the story behind “It Was Love”?
This girl I used to go out with, and I’m still friends with her. We’ll never be in love again but we were and I guess it’s just a way of saying, hey, we were in love and that’s pretty sweet. In the moment it was pure and felt right and good, and I’m trying to remember that.
5. There’s something very escapist about your music, and even in the look of the band. It’s almost like it isn’t from this time, and the lyrics speak of detaching yourself from certain things. Is that a conscious thing for you guys? Or is that just part of who you are?
I guess it was a conscious choice to try to make the record have a theme, and try to make the live show have a theme, too.
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