Local Natives announce new album, tour

By August Brown

Oct. 18, 2012 12 AM PT

The L.A. indie quartet Local Natives was a breakout story on the Los Angeles music scene in 2010, turning its four-part harmonies and percussive flurries into six-digit album sales and tours with Arcade Fire and the National. Now they’ve readied a follow-up and set an L.A. show for January.

“Hummingbird,” the band’s second album, will come out Jan. 29 on Frenchkiss Records. They’ve posted an early teaser in the single “Breakers” on YouTube, and it finds the band toning down the vocal acrobatics for bigger blasts of noise, some Talking Heads-style guitar slashes and tender atmosphere. (Watch it below.)

The album was recorded in New York, Montreal and in the band’s own Silver Lake studio compound, with production help from The National’s Aaron Dessner. It’s the first music from Local Natives since the departure of bassist Andy Hamm in 2011.

L.A. fans will get to hear the new record live on release day with a show at the El Rey Theatre. The band’s recent L.A. show with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic was a milestone for the group, and “Hummingbird” is one of the most anticipated follow-ups in L.A. rock.