Studio Sessions

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter in-studio, 8-27-07

You're forgiven if you expect a lot from the latest offering from Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. The Seattle-based quartet titled their third release (out earlier this year on Barsuk) Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul, after all, but even more impressive than the guts to do that is the fact that it actually lives up to its elevated label. Led by Jesse Sykes' haunting voice, the band doesn't shy away from the heavy and the heady, delving into the physical and metaphysical alike with a subdued intensity few can pull off with success. For our in-studio set, they strip a couple of more layers from songs that already seem comprised of nothing more than bare essentials. We'll talk to Sykes about the advantages and difficulties of maintaining a dual relationship in the band (guitarist Phil Wandscher doubles as her significant other), the new direction of the latest album, and how she cultivates what is perhaps her music's most important ingredient: her voice.

Recording engineer: Steven Kray

Audio Files