Episode 257: Local Natives

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It can be hard to be in a band, or really, in any kind of group where there’s creative collaboration, and you’re supposed to act like it’s a democracy. Because what do you do with an idea that you love, if nobody else believes in it? That question is a big part of this episode with Local Natives.

Local Natives is a band from Southern California. Their first album came out in 2009, but the three vocalists and songwriters in the band, Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, and Ryan Hahn – they’ve been playing together since they were in high school. The lineup also includes Matthew Frazier on drums and Nik Ewing on bass. They’ve put out 5 albums, including their most recent, Time Will Wait For No One, which came out in July 2023.

But for this episode, I talked to Taylor, Kelcey, and Ryan about an older song of theirs:“Dark Days,” which came out in 2016. It’s their biggest song to date; it has over 100 million streams, and it’s been certified gold. It’s a duet with Swedish singer Nina Persson, from The Cardigans. In 2020, they put out a new version of the song, featuring Amelia Meath from the band Sylvan Esso.

I talked to the guys here in the studio, and to Amelia Meath remotely. And together, they told me the seven-year story of how the song was first made and then eventually remade.

You can buy or stream “Dark Days” here, and you can get other Local Natives music and merch here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Talking Heads – “This Must Be The Place”
Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”
Ableton Analog – synth
The Cardigans – “Lovefool”
March 2020 performance of “Dark Days” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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