The Polyphonic Spree Wants You

The world is a bleak, bleary place. We're under daily siege by despairing news and crippling angst as war, floods, drought, disease, famine and tragic violence bombard our collective consciousness. Ignore it all you want, but we live in troubling times, and it's during such times that we look to artists to somehow capture and name the restlessness and growing unease of the general populace.

Bands might make social comments through rage-filled anthems, sardonic sing-alongs or tearful ballads, but few truly attempt to turn that frown upside down with such unabashedly positive aplomb as The Polyphonic Spree.

The Lone Star State's symphonic pop outfit is releasing its third full-length, The Fragile Army, presumably to combat the current malaise with life-affirming sonic wails of orchestral splendor. The 24-plus-member troupe of peaceful zealots arrives back on the scene not a moment too soon. Speaking with the band's leader/shaman Tim DeLaughter a day after the horrific Virginia Tech massacre, it's easy to see why the world needs a dose of the Spree.

When asked how current events are affecting his state of mind, he responds, "I'd like to have everybody on somewhat of the same page where we are all living in peace and harmony, in ideal utopia for the human race. It's a goal I think we all have deep down. Every now and then a glimpse comes along, and we wonder why we can't do it. ... In general, people really do want to come together and celebrate as a whole. In a time where we've looked toward someone to bring this country and its people together, the plan has faltered to where it's actually segregated people.

"I'm referring to 9/11 — because there was an opportunity there for some real communal synergy, and it did for a moment, where everyone felt the remorse for all [who] had died. There was a time for a leader to come in and say, 'Let's get together and change the way we look at each other.' Ultimately what happened was the polar opposite ... This festered into where we were really separating ourselves from not just the rest of the world but amongst people in our own country."

Some Say He's a Dreamer
Within a music scene given to condescending eye-rolling, many may dismiss DeLaughter as a certifiable dreamer — one who feels there's still a chance at a great society where we crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. But why does it seem so implausible? Even for a brief respite, music has the power to permeate the soul and lift the spirit. Armed with this testament, DeLaughter has set out to do his small part to cast a much-needed ray of hope.

"What's interesting now is people are starting to come together on their own without any sort of formal leadership; it's a natural evolution process,” he says. "I'm referring to people here in America, mainly because this is my stomping ground. ... I'm noticing a sense of unity that is being born because people are tired of the way things are transpiring. It certainly wasn't something I noticed two years ago when I started on this record; it's something I felt only recently.”