One of Colorado's musical giants made a long-awaited return this summer.
DeVotchKa released their latest album, "This Night Falls Forever," seven years after their last studio LP. But the band wasn't taking a break: They were busy working on side projects, touring worldwide and scoring films and TV shows.
The band performs Friday, Nov. 16, and Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park before departing on a European tour. They return to Denver to perform at the Bluebird Theater on Dec. 30 and 31.
Nick Urata—the band's lyricist, singer and multi-instrumentalist—talked to Colorado Matters about working with the Colorado Symphony and drawing inspiration from his youth.
Interview Highlights
On how the delay between albums enhanced the quality:
"It didn’t seem like that long for us. It seemed like just yesterday. In hindsight it was actually beneficial. Normally we would just do a big sprint and compose and record an album within a short timespan. But this time, because of all of our collaborations and side projects, we were able to put it on the backburner a few times. And when we came back to it we realized, ‘Hey man, we could make this better.’ But I don’t want to make people wait that long again. That was inexcusable."
On drawing inspiration from his teenage years and first loves:
"When I look at it, I’m always sort of drifting back there when I write songs. When I sing, I need to find a well of emotions, and I always find that period. They call it your formative years for a reason. The person you become is sort of forged in those fires you go through. I think it’s a mix of [positive and painful]. The first time you fall in love is so huge. But I was thinking at the same time, you’re sort of falling in love with the world. It opens you up to a bigger calling, and I think that’s the feeling I was trying to dwell back to."
On what the album title "This Night Falls Forever" means:
"Those dramatic times in our youth when you don’t realize what’s happening, but one particular night will change your life and the trajectory of your life."
On how working with the symphony and Hollywood made their sound bigger:
"We were doing all these amazing collaborations, like with the Colorado Symphony for instance, and I was working with these world-class Hollywood film orchestras. It was hard to go back to the small quartet after that, so we were like, ‘Let’s bring these onto our new album and make it as big as we can.’ We wanted to give it some vastness, but we wanted to have that intimacy that draws you into a song. I hope we accomplished that."
