Album Notes

yardley is a melodic, melancholic pop/rock band with a little Americana thrown in. Melodic, melancholic rock, in the vein of Coldplay and Travis, and Americana nuances of Wilco. But Yardley's front person is a girl. Based in Los Angeles, they've created their own niche. Their music is incredibly dynamic and full of emotion. Interesting, yet beautiful chord progressions and melodies as well as clever and often thought-provoking lyrics are the backbone of Yardley's music. Yardley just aren't huge fans of lyrical clichés.



Front person, Lee Beth Kilgore, says, "Songwriting is an art. There are lyrics, and there are chords and melody. I apprediate art when it is interpretive, but not so wacky that I never get the point. As with songs, they are served well when they touch liisteners in a way that is particular to them. Sometimes a song calls for straight to the point lyrics, that you don't have to read into. But for the most part, I enjoy lyrics when they are a little cryptic. Listeners can decide for themselves what it means to them. Then... there's music. That is just hard to put into words. It is a language all its own. It is my favorite element... the one that either makes you happy, makes you feel like Rocky, or just plain bores you."

Among the members of Yardley, there are years of musical study and background. Lee Beth began studying music theory at age 3. Mel is favored by the band to be the most proficient musician in Yardley. Steve and Tommy are the "tourers," having toured around the world as members of successful bands, prior to Yardley.

Yardley transcends gender bias. They fall in the gap between the ever prevalent female solo artists and male fronted bands. Yardley is somewhere in between. And yes, they are good with children.

Yardley credits as major influences, bands like Travis, Coldplay, Wilco and singer/songwriters like Jonatha Brooke, Patty Griffin, and Elliott Smith.

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Based in L.A and created by Lee Beth Kilgore, YARDLEY delivers solid and well produced melancholic acoustic "pop" with tons of flirts of bands from the brittish islands (ala Coldplay, Travis etc) Add a touch of american singer songwriters like Jonatha Brooke and Jann Arden and were quite ahead of Yardleys music. There are two various styles of music on the album, and what I like most is when Lee Beth gets in her most acoustic and "naked" mode. One lovely example of that is third out "My Apologies" and fifth out "Cellophane" with a lovely atmosphere. And her voice gets much more intimate in these softer tracks and that is something I prefer compared to the the more "electrified" tracks. Surf and listen at her homepage or at CD BABY. And I must also mention the last one out... "Everything That We Depend On" which is a wonderful tune, and if you love Pat Leonard and Daniel Lanois sort of productions that song will give you goosebumps all over...
Par Winberg
Melodic.net