The band Mellow Swells stopped by Live and Local last week, following the release of their new album, “Take Me With You.”
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Jones Bell, Charlie Garnett, and Kurt Stracener form the core of Mellow Swells, whose funk-jazz-indie sound and soaring-yet-smooth melodies (their name is an apt description) have made them a staple of the Triangle music scene this decade. They’re especially known as one of the area’s best live bands, but they’ve also earned high acclaim for their studio work – and “Take Me With You,” with eight powerhouse tracks and no skips, will be no exception.
“We had the (title) and the general idea for the album before we had any of the songs,” says Bell of “Take Me With You,” the band’s third album and their first since 2023’s “Arms.”
Mellow Swells developed the album’s eight songs collaboratively and slowly, taking two years to complete the finished product.
“We had one big session where we recorded the drums, the bass, and the guitar altogether…and then we spent months, maybe a year, just tracking other random stuff,” Stracener says. “We put a keyboard here or there, we slowed one song down, and just messed around without a rushed mentality…We’re kind of all just writing it together and figuring out what sounds good.”
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Bookended by the aptly-named opener “Sunrise” and the calm denouement of a closer “Truly, Truly” – and featuring a small assist from 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck on the penultimate track – “Take Me With You” can stake a claim as one of the region’s best albums of the year so far, fully capturing the vibe of Mellow Swells’ beloved live shows.
“We consider ourselves to be a live band,” Bell says. “We (start) from ‘how does it work on stage’ – and then let that spin out into ‘oh, but what if we had 17 arpeggios?’ And then you cut 15 and you’re left with two good arpeggios. And as far as I’ve come to learn in 29 years on this earth, that’s how you make a record.”
As for those live shows, Mellow Swells has a big one coming up later this month: they’ll be playing at Stanczyk’s in Durham at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25, alongside Scivic Rivers and the Rattletraps.
“This is a super-collaborative band just in general,” Bell says. “I’m the one who sings a lot, but I think (if) you ask three people in the crowd who the front man is, you’re going to get three different answers. I think that’s what’s really cool about it. And that’s why I really like writing this music.”
Mellow Swells stopped by Live & Local last week to discuss “Take Me With You” and play three songs: “Brantley’s Eagle,” “Almond Joy,” and “Gumshot.” Listen:
‘Take Me With You’: Live and Local with Mellow Swells! Chapelboro.com.
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