Yeasayer

Yeasayer
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genres	Experimental rock, progressive rock, psychedelic pop, worldbeat
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Secretly Canadian, Mute Records, We Are Free
Website	yeasayer.net last.fm
Members	Chris Keating Ira Wolf Tuton Anand Wilder
Past members	Luke Fasano Jason Trammel Ahmed Gallab

Yeasayer (/ˈjeɪseɪər/) is an American experimental rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2006. The band consists of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand Wilder.

The band's three core members, Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand Wilder, first came to attention after appearing at the SXSW festival in early 2007. The band's lineup is relatively unique, with Keating and Wilder both serving as lead vocalists and principal songwriters and the band producing the songs together as a unit. Wilder, who began playing cello when he was four, described their songwriting styles to Pitchfork: "When I write a song, I'm always thinking of the harmonies; for me the song doesn't really exist without the harmonies. For example, Forgiveness would be a really boring melody without the choir behind it. Chris resisted any formal musical training, but his sense of melody and songcraft is just astounding."

Their first single consisted of a double A-side of the tracks "Sunrise" and "2080." Both songs appeared on their debut album All Hour Cymbals, which was released in October 2007 via We Are Free. The band has self described their sound as "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel." Wilder has referenced influences including "Bollywood soundtracks from the 70s, Mapfumo records, and Celtic music." Many critics described the album as having "spiritual" influences. Wilder expanded on this in an interview, stating: "When you lack any specific religion, you become open to all sorts of religious music. And I think everyone can agree that some of the most beautiful music ever written was done so in the name of God or gods."

While supporting their debut album, the band became well known for their live performances, which often include psychedelic visuals. In 2008, Yeasayer toured with MGMT and Man Man and supported Beck. The same year they performed a public a cappella concert, "Take Away Show", on the Paris metro. The band also played at Lollapalooza, the Pitchfork Music Festival, the Austin City Limits Festival, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch! Music Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In 2009, Yeasayer contributed "Tightrope" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization.

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