A personnel change in a band can go any number of ways. For some acts, the lightning-in-a-bottle aspect of their creative path is completely lost when a certain lineup is no longer together. Perhaps the new members aren’t as connected with the music, but something has been lost, maybe forever. And then there are other bands that are based around a singular creative force that can endlessly shuffle the supporting cast without sacrificing the quality of the music. In that case, it could be the frequent refreshing of collaborators that keeps them progressing. Okkervil River seems to be the latter. Despite the many different lineups, it seems like Will Sheff could pick any four or five musicians and make great music with them. While its always great to see the classic lineup of your favorite act, if that’s even possible, but I like to see my favorite artists collaborating with as many different people as they can. We end up with such surprising and entertaining combinations.
New Album A Day 