Innovators with plenty still to say
THE ALBUM LEAF have been making their mark as soft-spoken innovators steadily and surely since 1999. One year after forming the influential San Diego instrumental group Tristeza, songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle founded THE ALBUM LEAF, a solo studio project turned full-fledged live band. The diversity of THE ALBUM LEAF’s music is second only to the diversity of the music that has inspired LaValle through the years – the artist has named everything from German Ambient/Pysch bands like Can, Cluster and Harmonia to traditional mariachi music, electronic music and Brian Eno as some of his primary influences – and it’s clear that THE ALBUM LEAF are unafraid of thinking outside the box, both as an individual band & within the larger scope of modern music.
Over time, THE ALBUM LEAF (now based in Los Angeles) has grown from a side endeavor to LaValle’s main focus. The project’s first releases, An Orchestrated Rise To Fall (1999) and One Day I’ll Be On Time (2001), intertwined field recordings, Rhodes piano, and a nuanced treatment of texture with mature songwriting and dense, evocative atmospheres. Following these records, which put THE ALBUM LEAF on the map for critics and fans worldwide, Icelandic band Sigur Rós discovered LaValle and took THE ALBUM LEAF on tour with them in the US, garnering the band wide exposure and recognition.
Following a European and a second US tour with Sigur Rós, LaValle left Tristeza to devote his full attention to THE ALBUM LEAF, and soon produced the highly acclaimed releases Seal Beach (2003, Acuarela discos) and In A Safe Place (2004, Sub Pop / City Slang). Since then, THE ALBUM LEAF‘s influence has continued to grow. LaValle has released two more well-received full-lengths as well as tens of other releases ranging from soundtracks to collaborations with artists such as Bright Eyes & Mark Kozelek, further establishing THE ALBUM LEAF as a household name in the world of modern rock music and beyond. THE ALBUM LEAF have toured extensively across the globe, and many of the band’s songs have appeared on TV shows including Scandal, Sons of Anarchy, Suits, and more. In 2016, the band partnered with renowned label Relapse Records for the release of the group’s sixth studio album and first since 2010’s A Chorus Of Storytellers (Sub Pop).
THE ALBUM LEAF is:
Jimmy LaValle
Matthew Resovich
Brad Lee
David LeBleu
