Meet the Oakland quartet Audrye Sessions. Their self-titled debut on Black Seal (released earlier this year) is packed with polished, propulsive rock songs & gentle, stripped-down tunes with the kind of ear-grabbing melodies that instantly hard-wire themselves into your brain. Recorded with Andrew Scheps (U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash) & Matt Radosevich (The Hives, Taking Back Sunday), the album is anchored by Ryan Karazija’s remarkable voice, which is whisper vulnerable one minute, roiling with emotion the next and easily slips into a smooth falsetto.

Audrye Sessions arrived when bassist Alicia Marie Campbell met Karazija, who was gigging solo in coffee houses after his previous band split up. His early musical loves included the Beatles, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Radiohead & Oasis. But Karazija’s true love has always been slow-churning melodies (“My heart beats slow,” he says), and when he hooked up with the Björk-adoring former model Campbell, it was time for a change. Looking for more players, Karazija hit Craigslist and stumbled upon Michael Knox, who answered a seeking-guitarist ad by announcing he didn’t have a guitar. The band’s current drummer, James Leste, has been part of the lineup since 2007 and Knox says they’re an eclectic little family now. The outfit picked up the moniker Audrye Sessions from a commercial for a CD burner that happened to be on the television when a venue called demanding a name.

Audrye Sessions shows off Karazija’s unbelievable command of melody and the band’s ability to channel his vision into masterful rock songs. First single “Turn Me Off” is actually darker than listeners would expect: “I was watching a show where James Gandolfini interviews people that have come back from war,” Karazija says. “There was one guy who lost his eyes and his life has completely changed. He has these awful dreams and doesn’t want to be alive. The song talks about being so messed up that you want to be shut off.” Karazija, who’s been known to text friends with complete songs he’s composed in the car so he can remember them, writes music before words, but knows his spontaneous writing process works just fine: “I’ll wait for lyrics to happen, and one day I’ll find something perfect.”

“Turn Me Off” | download

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The 4tet is currently on tour. If they happen to be going through your town, YOU MUST check them out! They stopped by in Tucson a couple of weeks ago & it was definitely my favorite show of the night.

June:

02 State Theater St. Petersburg, FL
03 The Social w/Manchester Orchestra Orlando, FL
04 The Social w/Manchester Orchestra Orlando, FL
06 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountainview, CA
11 The Blank Club San Jose, CA

July:

02 Summerfest Milwaukee, WI
04 Western Gateway Park Des Moines, IA
06 Southgate w/Paper Route Newport, KY
07 The Garden Bowl @ Magic Stick w/Paper Route Detroit, MI
08 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
09 The Basement Columbus, OH
11 Jerky’s Live Music Hall Providence, RI
12 Middle East Upstairs Boston, MA
15 Dc9 Washington DC
16 Maxwells Hoboken, NJ
17 Kungfu Necktie Philadelphia, PA
19 Garfield Artworks Pittsburgh, PA
21 The Intersection- Front Grand Rapids, MI
22 Schubas Chicago, IL
23 Firebird St. Louis, MO
24 Mojos Columbia, MO
26 Marquis Theatre Denver, CO
27 Club Vegas Salt Lake City, UT
31 Hawthorne Theater Portland, OR

Audrye Sessions | Tour Dates | Buy