On March 9, Dark Dark Dark releases the stunning six-song EP Bright Bright Bright on Supply and Demand Music. Hailing from New Orleans, New York, and Minneapolis, the chamber-folk sextet have yielded a lush and intoxicating follow-up to their 2008 full-length debut, the Snow Magic. On the new record the band moves beyond lost love, heartache, and loneliness toward more hopeful horizons. “These songs are about new beginnings, and usually have a little triumphant twist in them,” says band member Marshall LaCount. “The songs are often about a character finding a place in the world, and the strange interactions that happen along the way.”

The EP is also about finding and creating beauty. “Lyrically we’ve grown,” says LaCount. “We’re working on the new songs the way a painter might work. Each of us adds a different shade or texture to the canvas.” The resulting songs are expansive and dynamic, layered with serious overtones but with joy at the center.

After a successful run opening for the band WHY? last fall, Dark Dark Dark recorded the new EP at Sacred Heart Studios in a former church overlooking Lake Superior, and worked with Minneapolis producer Tom Herbers (WHY?, Low, Retribution Gospel Choir, The Jayhawks, Fog). Herbers engineered, produced, and mixed Bright Bright Bright on analog equipment from start to finish. He encouraged the band to record live as opposed to tracking instruments separately, taking advantage of the band’s unique chemistry and using the chapel’s natural reverb to amplify the power of their live performances. LaCount explains, “Recording like this allowed so much room for musicality, warmth, and energy. It’s the most honest way we’ve ever worked.”

Bright Bright Bright also features new additions to the band, resulting in a much fuller and melodic sound. Multi-instrumentalist Walt McClements, of the New Orleans bands Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship and Panorama Jazz Band plays trumpet, accordion, and piano. Brett Bullion, a member of the Minneapolis outfit Tarlton, adds percussion.

Dark Dark Dark is currently recording new material for their sophomore album (due Fall of 2010) at the historic Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis with Tom Herbers again producing. Once completed, the band will tour in support of the EP, beginning with three SXSW showcases in Austin this March.

Check out the Daytrotter Session with Dark Dark Dark.

Download the title track from Bright Bright Bright here.

Meet a man driven wildly by music. A man classically trained, but rewired with his own two hands. A frequent collaborator, occasional curator and consummate “man behind the curtain” now emerging at the front of something yet unnamed. Somewhere between the concert hall and the club you’ll find his haunting liquid soundscapes, born of hip-hop composition, o’er-strung with chant, hinting at some divine unreachable. Meet Son Lux.

Ryan Lott studied composition and piano at Indiana University School of Music before moving to Cleveland, OH, where he lived for six years and earned a reputation as a versatile and zealous collaborator.

Equally at ease in the creative company of choreographers, classical musicians, and break dancers, he cut his teeth spear-heading multi-disciplinary "performance parties," composing music for modern dance companies, and collaborating with musicians across many genres. His works have been performed dozens of times in NYC and throughout the US and Europe.

In the cracks of time and energy between Ryan's collaborations, his creative alter-ego "Son Lux" was born out of an urge to finally set about making an album of his own. What Ryan, as Son Lux, wove together over 4 years in his attic studio, is critically acclaimed as one of the best records of 2008. It is At War With Walls and Mazes, an impressive debut which earned Son Lux the title of Best New Artist by NPR's All Songs Considered.

Ryan moved to New York City in 2007 while still finishing up the Son Lux record, and has since become a sought-after arranger and remixer, reimaging the music of Beirut, Nico Muhly, My Brightest Diamond, Anathallo, and many others. Film credits include arranging and programming for the score for The Brothers Bloom (2008). Present projects include a series of new releases under the Son Lux moniker.