Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray

Holding onto Strings Better Left to Fray further expands on the dynamic musical growth curve heard on Seether's 2007 release, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, while maintaining a sonic imprint that is undeniably Seether. There are many reasons to be excited. Not only does Seether branch out stylistically on the album s first single, "Country Song" which blends a buoyant, aurally addictive hook with the band's signature searing guitar work but the singer's striking new vocal approach is audible from the album's exhilarating lead track, "No Resolution." Morgan explains, "On this album, I didn't scream very much, because that's not what I wanted to do. For some of the songs, the sentiment behind the lyric wasn't angry, therefore to sing it in an angry way didn't make any sense to me. The gritty stuff is easy to do, but it also feels really great to convey emotionally, through my voice, what I'm trying to say, instead of just being a one trick pony." The result is a collection of compelling vocal performances that conjure an appealing blend of two of Morgan's chief influences, Kurt Cobain and Tool's Maynard James Keenan.

Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Seether definitely had an all-star player on its team for Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray in the form of producer Brendan O'Brien (Rage Against the Machine, AC/DC, Pearl Jam). Seether fans identify the band with songs that are not only sonically heavy but which also carry a lyrical emotional heft. Rest assured that those qualities are still intact on Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray. "Down" providing a fantastic showcase for John Humphrey's Bonham-esque drumming along with "Desire for Need" (on which Morgan falls back on the aggressive vocal delivery) prove that Seether have not strayed too far from what fans recognize as the band's aural identity. "Master of Disaster" also retains the original Seether imprint while introducing new musical elements, which the band set out to do with each song, "so people wouldn t know what to expect," Morgan interjects. "When we make a new album, it has to be superior to the previous one; otherwise we re wasting everyone's time.
Asked which tracks are favorites, Morgan talks about "Tonight," which almost didn't make it onto the album. "I hadn t even shown it to the band yet," he explains, "but one morning I woke up before dawn, in a really good mood, and completely changed the lyrics to positive lyrics. It just started coming together. Later that day in the studio, I asked Brendan to check it out. We only had two days left in the studio, but Brendan said, 'We've got to record that song right now.' I think it captures and summarizes the hopeful sentiment of the album." The band is also proud of "Here and Now," a modern rocker infused with a classic pop feel that might fit easily within the discography of Cheap Trick. "We wanted to write songs that would stand the test of time rather than just be music 'of the now' meaning what is popular in this particular two- or three-year cycle" Morgan explains. "Here and Now" also features the lyrics from which the album title was culled.