Tophouse

(Hi, our official band bio for our new album was too long for Spotify, so I randomly chopped off the first several paragraphs. Hope it still makes sense!) The making of the new album started on a chaotic note. In the summer of 2025, Andy LaFave (piano), prompted by a back injury on tour and an autism diagnosis for his young child, decided to bow out of touring permanently. Eli Isbell, a longtime fill-in player for LaFave and close friend of the group, agreed to come on as an official full-time member of the band touring alongside Joseph Larson (lead vocals, guitar, banjo), Jesse Davis (guitar, mandolin, percussion), and William Cook (violin). This unexpected tour lineup reshuffle, right on the cusp of recording a new album, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “While I was recovering at home while the guys were on tour, I suddenly had time to spend some long nights alone in the studio going over demos of these incredible new songs Jesse and Joe had written.” Says LaFave. “I kept adding all kinds of weird synths and stacked choirs to the demos and sending them to the guys, and to my surprise everyone was digging it.” An ambitious but cohesive sound began to evolve for the new songs. When the band got back from tour in the Fall of 2025, they got to work recording the album with LaFave producing. It was a seamless evolution of the band’s sound, bigger and fuller while maintaining the lyrical depth of the songs.