"IF YOU LOVE AN UPLIFTING BAND, THE COLLECTION IS FOR YOU" -BOB BOILEN, NPR
MUSIc
On the surface, the name of NC band The Collection’s new album, ‘Entropy,’
may seem deceptive. Over the four years since the release of their chamber
pop, 25-piece ensemble debut, ‘Ars Moriendi,’ the band shed enough weight
to become an efficient touring band, garnered praise from NPR and American
Songwriter, toured nationally with bands like The Oh Hellos and Lowland
Hum, and performed dynamic sets at CMJ and New Music Seminar as an official
“Top 100 Artists On The Verge.”
The trimming-of-the-excess was soon mirrored in vocalist David Wimbish’s
spirituality, resulting in the band’s 2017 follow-up, ‘Listen To The
River,’ The Collection’s first member-arranged group of songs. Inspired by
Herman Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha,’ and the poetry of Rumi, the album took a step
off of the fence walked between faith and doubt on Ars Moriendi, landing
distinctly on the side of doubt. The constitutive single, Sing Of The Moon,
received over 3 million streams between Youtube and Spotify, the release
tour brought hundreds of people to venues across the country, and The
Collection was featured at Wild Goose Festival, and Switchpoint Conference
alongside PRI’s Marco Werman.
Even Entropy’s debut single Beautiful Life, which PopMatters called,
“symphonic, poetic wonderment,” seems to be about finding order by watching
the natural world. Beneath the surface of all of this, however, is another
story.
During the recording of Listen To The River, then-married band-members
David and Mira Joy ended their marriage. Though committed to finishing the
project peacefully together, the next months were a chaotic chain of events
that left them with a totalled car, no house, no work, few friends, and the
dwindling commitment of some bandmates.
Starting over alone in a new city, Wimbish began to write for a new solo
project, freed from the assumed expectations of fans and band-members. The
result was the most focused, honest, and intimate batch of songs the 27
year old songwriter had written, lyrically and musically. As the writing
progressed, and the band had to stare it’s impending death in the eyes, a
solid and enduring core emerged. Members Hayden Cooke (Bass), Joshua Ling
(Harmonium/Guitar/Vocals), and Graham Dickey (Horns/Bells) lent their
performances to David Wimbish’s (Vocals/Guitar/Keys/Strings) fleshed out
songs, birthing The Collection’s 3rd full-length record from the ashes of
the unfinished solo project. With the addition of husband-and-wife Joshua
Linhart (Drums) and Sarah McCoy (Keys/Synth/Vocals), the band finally found
its firm footing.
And that is where the story of Entropy is revealed: Though meant to
document David’s life’s gradual decline into, and subsequent recovery from,
disorder, the album became a living testimony to The Collection’s own
experience of entropy. Now, with the wisdom of hindsight, the band is back
and focused, with a passion for sharing what they’ve learned: that on the
other side of disorder lies a new sense of beauty.”
