Song of the Day: Other Lives - Reconfiguration

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is "Reconfiguration" by Other Lives from the 2015 album Rituals on tbd Records.

Other Lives - Reconfiguration (MP3)

Formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Other Lives emerged at the end of the '00s as a group that could tap into both indie and folk influences to create songs driven by atmosphere instead of the era-typical force. Known as Kunak for the first few years of their run, the rechristened band released their debut as Other Lives in 2009 and swiftly followed it with 2011's Tamer Animals. The latter album served as the group's breakthrough album, earning the band slots opening for Bon Iver and Radiohead, as well as their own jaunts. After the whirlwind album cycle behind Tamer Animals and the subsequent Mind The Gap EP, the band decamped to work on their third album. Written after slimming the band down to a trio (now consisting of singer Jesse Tabish and multi-instrumentalists Jonathan Mooney and Josh Onstott) and moving to Portland, Oregon, the band's third album Rituals is a significant departure from Tamer Animals, retaining the band's sense of haunting atmosphere but reworking it through more electronic channels than ever. Although hardly subtle, the aptly-titled "Reconfiguration" is nothing short of a reinvention for the group. Guitars (or any stringed instruments, for that matter) are used sparsely, replaced by electronics and a stronger-than-ever focus on Jesse Tabish's vocals. "Reconfiguration" is powered by a winding, rabbit hole-like spiral of intrigue and since it doesn't ever reach an obvious climax, it makes the song all the more magnetic.

Other Lives have a slew of European dates announced, but North American dates behind Rituals are likely forthcoming, so keep a tab on their website and Facebook. Below, watch the band play "Tamer Animals" live on KEXP back in 2011.