Everything All the Time
Everything All the Time features the band’s original four-piece lineup, although both Tim Meinig and Sera Cahoone receive drumming credits. Discussing the album’s sound, band leader Ben Bridwell said, “I thought before recording that I really wanted an ELO-sounding record, with strings and keyboards and synths, but then, as we got closer to it, we wanted to take a more raw approach.” Regarding its lyrics, he added, “A lot of these songs didn’t really come from any lyric writing, let alone any singing ability. A lot of the ways the words are sung were meant to hide or mask what’s being said. But there are definitely words. I wrote ’em down on paper and everything.”
The band performed the first single from the album, “The Funeral”, on the Late Show with David Letterman. By that time Brooke, Meinig and Early had all left the band and had been replaced by Joe Arnone (keyboards, guitar), Rob Hampton (guitar, bass) and Creighton Barrett (drums). “The Funeral” has been used extensively in film, TV, video games and advertisements.
The two Mat Brooke penned tracks, “I Go to the Barn…” and “St. Augustine” feature co-lead vocals by Brooke and Bridwell although Brooke’s vocals are much quieter than Bridwell’s. A demo version of “I Go to the Barn…” titled “I’d Like to Think” was recorded by Brooke and Bridwell as Nov 16, a short lived project between Carissa’s Wierd and Band of Horses. On the Nov 16 version, Bridwell’s vocals are much quieter than Brooke’s. Neither “I Go to the Barn…” nor “St. Augustine” were played live after Brooke’s 2006 departure from the band until December 2012, when both songs reappeared in their live setlist.
The album was a minor hit in Scandinavia, appearing in the lower reaches of both the Swedish and Norwegian album charts.