Lucinda Black Bear

New York City band Lucinda Black Bear released "Knives", a second full-length CD of what NPR Music calls their ?carefully written folk rock with stunning sonic arrangements? on Tuesday, November 2nd. The lead single, the CD's title track, was released on September 27. The follow-up to 2007's critically-acclaimed "capo my heart and other bear songs", "Knives" finds the band fleshing out the indie folk of its debut, adding more lush, sweeping string arrangements and broader orchestral scope.

The lead single, the CD's title track, was released on September 27. The follow-up to 2007's critically-acclaimed "capo my heart and other bear songs", "Knives" finds the band fleshing out the indie folk of its debut, adding more lush, sweeping string arrangements and broader orchestral scope. While "capo" was praised for its ?rich and haunting sonic atmospheres? (Paste) and ?dark, country-inflected pop melodies? (Time Out New York), "Knives" ups the ante with a soulful fusion of cellos, feedback, loops, pianos, drums and oddly tuned guitars. Once likened to the bare-bones acoustic Americana style of Elliott Smith, the band's plaintive and often melancholic songs get some meat added to their bones on "Knives", which is at times reminiscent of the music of Arcade Fire.

On "Knives", lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Christian Gibbs and bandmates?percussionist Kristin Mueller, cellist Chad Hammer and bassist Mike Cohen?hone their craftsmanship. (Live, the band is often joined by violinist and string arranger Gillian Rivers). The band was conceived in the mid-aughts, when Gibbs decided he needed more instrumentation on his piano-guitar based, loop laden songs. He set out to find like-minded musicians in the New York music scene and brought his favorite four together for a rehearsal one night. By all accounts, the band coalesced that first night and was christened Lucinda Black Bear soon thereafter. Ever since then, the four collaborate on all musical arrangements together, producing ethereal, layered sounds for all to hear.