“Just a second. Our drummer has to tape a tambourine to his foot.”

When I heard these words, I instantly knew that Eisley was a band that defied convention. Distinguished by their extensive use of harmonies, bewitching combination of vocals and instrumentals, along with intimate, familial touches, the band (comprised of the Tyler, Texas-based Dupree family) effortlessly renders genre-based pigeonholing nearly impossible. Though probably best classified as alternative, the band lies on some middle ground between that and alternative rock, achieving in their sound a wistful, affecting combination of intimacy, elegance and quiet power that transcends any real genre distinction.

With a third album slated for release sometime this spring and having just come off a national tour to promote their latest release (the Fire Kite EP), the band’s recent successes have helped spur an exceptionally loyal, ever-increasing fanbase to grow even more, and it’s easy to see why. Having already established themselves with a consistently dreamlike, naturalistic form of lyrically-based imagery, the band continues to impress, having mastered a perhaps equally important and tragically rare musical phenomenon: evolution.

As of late, the band seems to approach their music with a refreshingly heightened boldness in terms of both ambition and sound, yet does so without sacrificing any of their better qualities. Marked by a clear progression from their nostalgic, entrancing but rather abstract first full album, Room Noises, in 2005, to the more grounded (at least thematically) Combinations in 2007, the band continues its evolution, descending into a darker, at times haunting, place with their latest release, Fire Kite. The progression, while conscious, seems to be natural rather than forced, and, thankfully, comes off as such.

Stacy, the band’s keyboardist/vocalist/lyricist (the latter two roles shared with sister Sherri), describes the band’s latest music as “a little more vulnerable,” giving a distinct sense that “something is deep and broken.” Even so, the EP avoids the precarious realm of the whiny, through maintaining a cautious sort of optimism, because, as Stacy pointed out, “there’s still some beauty and hope, too [‘in the brokenness’],” so “it’s not all dark.” While reminiscent of their older work, the new EP demonstrates a certain maturation that can only stem from, as confirmed by Stacy, a certain level of personal trauma. As such, the EP as a whole feels rather elegiac, but instead of prattling and whining, it mourns in a beautiful sense, coupling the tragedy with a sense of renewal and healing, most noticeable in new tracks “Ambulance” and “The Valley.”

It’s just that sense of convalescence, though, that makes the album uplifting. With the sorrow bringing the listener down and in and the sense of restoration buoying the music up, the melodies are full-bodied and, like the band, “stronger than ever.” Maintaining the same musical power as earlier tracks like “Plenty of Paper” and “Invasion” but combining it with the sentimentality of songs like “Trolley Wood” and “Many Funerals,” Fire Kite embodies a fusion of all the band’s better, former qualities, with some new harder, rock-y touches. This is hardly the culmination of the band’s efforts, though. Says Stacy, “we [Eisley] have a lot more to give, and [...] are very, very passionate about the future.” Considering the band’s evolution, aspirations and youth, it looks like we can expect good things to come from Eisley, not only with their new album coming up this spring, but for years to come.