With a new album out and a show at EnoFest this week, Daniel Michalak and James Phillips of Bombadil joined Aaron this week on Live and Local.
Learn more about Bombadil at BombadilMusic.com.
“In Color” is Bombadil’s eighth album, their first in four years. The album features a dozen songs, each written around a different color. Phillips says the band wrote the songs with the theme in mind – but it wasn’t the first theme they tried.
“We started by finding lists of things on the Internet to write songs about,” he says. First they wrote ten songs about different emotions, then they tried writing about each month of the year – and only after that did they hit on the color wheel as their inspiration.
What’s most remarkable about the album, though, isn’t the theme so much as its very existence. Like many 2023 albums, “In Color” was a pandemic project, with each member of the band working separately. But in this case they were separated not just by the pandemic, but by an entire ocean: Michalak had moved to France not long before COVID hit. The Triangle’s music history is filled with bands that called it quits when one of its core members moves away – but Bombadil bucked the trend and soldiered on.
“On a basic level it’s something we both enjoy, and love doing, and want to be a big part of our lives,” says Michalak. “The fans also keep us going – and writing music is a creative process and also a fulfilling process.”
Listen to “In Color” on Bandcamp.
Michalak and Phillips also got a boost from longtime bandmate Stuart Robinson, who rejoined Bombadil last year after a seven-year hiatus. Rounding out the quartet is a new member, MK Rodenbough – who’s also known as the acclaimed solo artist Rodes Baby.
Later this year, Bombadil will head to Europe for a tour of Germany and Austria – but they’re in Durham this week, playing at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 4, at the Festival for the Eno.
Buy tickets and get more information at EnoFest.org.
James Phillips and Daniel Michalak stopped by “Live & Local” this week to chat about the album and play three tracks: “Indigo Seamstress,” “Green Feelings,” and “Orange Planets.” Listen:
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