Album Notes

We're never sure which Naked April will make an appearance, from album to album (and even from performance to performance). With Eloquent Disease, Naked April continues to evolve, adding a new member (Eric McKenna, playing mandolin and guitars, and contributing the instrumental track, "Moonstones"), asking for help from old friends (Tony Korologos - of The Gamma Rays, Spazz, and Zentherstick - plays drums on six songs; Renel Rytting - of the Utah Chamber Artists - contributes vocals to one song), and deepening the compositional collaboration between the members.

With this album, Naked April's practice of band retreats expanded to the recording process: a cabin in the Uintah Mountains of Utah became a temporary recording studio for the basic tracks, in late 2003, and a group improvisation during those sessions became the song "Reach Me". (A previous retreat hideout makes an appearance, as the subject of one of the album's centerpieces, "Steve's Castle".) These tracks were refined, mixed, and mastered over the next six months. The result is a balance between intimacy and complexity, veering from the airy grace of "Feels to Need", through the dense spookiness of "Paradise", to the meditative, multi-layered guitars of "Seeing is Believing", and winding down with the acoustic acceptance of "Vallium".

Cover artwork © 2004, Pat Smith. All rights reserved.