DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: The Future Laureates

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on May 10, 2012 3:00PM

The Future Laureates have had a busy year so far—they signed with CAUDog Records, played the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival, and took a trip down south for SXSW. Now the three-piece is preparing for the release of its second full-length album, Fortress Sessions.

Much like the band’s previous material, the new album is a collection of energetic, acoustic-driven pop melodies with a charming folk feel. It starts out with “Galahad’s Song,” a medieval-themed ballad whose narrator is the illegitimate son of Lancelot, but the rest of the songs are a bit more down-to-earth, seemingly comprised of parts of the songwriter’s life. For example, “Lovely” narrates a date at a local venue with lyrics like “Jon Drake and the Shakes are shaking Beat Kitchen tonight./You showed up looking so lovely, always looking so lovely.”

Many of the tracks are this type of straight-forward love (or break-up) song about a girl, and while the album’s sweet and simple lyrics are at times refreshing, they at times risk sounding like all that embarrassing poetry we wrote when we were thirteen. Fortunately, uke player and primary singer Matthew Daigler makes up for this with his rich and confident vocals. Check it out for yourself; the band is giving away a few free tracks off the new album:

MP3: The Future Laureates “For Debbie”
MP3: The Future Laureates “Lovely”
MP3: The Future Laureates “Serenity”

You can also hear some of their new material live when the band holds a CD release show for Fortress Sessions this Saturday at Subterranean. Opening will be Cobalt & The Hired Guns and Tree. For now, watch two hands fall in love in this new video for “Kingston Blues”:

The Future Laureates play Saturday, May 12 at Subterranean, 2011 W North Ave, 8:30 p.m., $10 in advance or $12 day of, 21+