The Soil and The Sun’s ‘Meridian’ honored as winner of 2014’s Local Spin of the Year

The ethereal Grand Rapids rock band’s latest album tabbed as best regional album of the year, with the acclaimed group eyeing another recording project for 2015. (Video)

 

At the heart and soul of it, The Soil and The Sun set out to “create something as real and genuine as possible” with the Grand Rapids band’s latest album, “Meridian.”

“It covers a lot of emotional ground,” said singer, guitarist and songwriter Alex McGrath, who has also called it “the most exciting and probably most interesting thing” the group has recorded. “It’s basically the culmination of a wide range of experiences from the past several years of life.”

The wondrously lush and atmospheric rock album propelled by The Soil and The Sun’s ethereal vocals and unique effects-enhanced approach topped an impressive roster of local and regional releases to win Local Spin of the Year for 2014.

The follow-up to 2012’s “What Wonder Is this Universe?” stands as an epic, 72-minute masterpiece of choral charms, multi-instrumental textures and dynamic, climactic passages that carry the listener on a journey through a variety of musical stories and emotions amid styles ranging from airy folk-pop to prog-rock to the “experiential, spiritual, orchestral rock” for which the band is known.

As such, the sophisticated, 12-track affair driven by questioning – of the world, of relationships – was widely and rightly praised. It was produced by Rick Fritz and the band, and recorded over three weeks at Audiotree Studios in Chicago in early 2014. (Listen to the album below.)

Last year, Local Spins honored “Translate” by Grand Rapids jam band Ultraviolet Hippopotamus with its top honor. “Meridian” eclipsed a bevy of compelling local and regional albums released last year, barely edging out stunning recordings by Seth Bernard, Ghost Heart, Hannah Rose Graves & Justin Wierenga, May Erlewine, Heaters and others.

TOURING THE COUNTRY HARDER THAN EVER WITH MORE PLANNED FOR 2015

Release of “Meridian” came as The Soil and The Sun — McGrath, his wife, Ashley, Benjamin Baker-Johnson, Joanna Perry, Jacqueline Warren, Michael Newsted and Kellen Kerwin (replacing William Campbell, who departed the group last year) – continued its upward trajectory in 2014, touring the country, substantially growing its fan base and making an appearance at South by Southwest for the second year in a row.

And as devotees can attest: The Soil and The Sun manage a remarkable job of re-creating its layered studio sound in its live shows, literally enveloping concertgoers in its sonic beauty.

“We did a few pretty good loops around the United States this year, playing somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 shows. It was by far our biggest year of touring yet,” said McGrath.

But that’s just the beginning. The band already is “working out a lot of new song ideas” and will start the process of recording the follow-up to “Meridian” this winter. And don’t expect the same sort of album.

“It’s going to look a lot different than Meridian, though, so there aren’t going to be plans to release anything until we’re sure about it,” he said. “Also, we have a pretty nice looking U.S. tour in the works for springtime.”

Before that, the band plays The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids at 8 p.m. Jan. 24. (Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 the day of the show.)

Ask the band’s musicians the best part about being in The Soil and The Sun and they’ll respond like longtime friends or family members, saying they enjoy being around each other and crafting music together.

“I think we’re at our best when we all just try to be as real with each other and ourselves as possible,” McGrath said. “I’m so glad to be part of a group that really seeks to understand each other, because that crosses over into the creativity realm in really tangible ways. It takes a lot of patience and selflessness to make something like this work.”

It all worked brilliantly on “Meridian,” so much so that a musician from another Grand Rapids band which had toiled for more than a year on its own recording project told me he was awed by The Soil and The Sun’s album. “They win,” he quipped good-heartedly.

Indeed, they did.

Read more about the band in this Local Spins Artist Spotlight feature. And check out a video of the band’s Local Spins Live in-studio performance of the song, “Leviathan,” here.

Listen to “Meridian” online here.

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC