American indie outfit Rilo Kiley have decided to make their hiatus permanent and part company.
Country tinged power pop, Rilo Kiley have released some startling material. Cult heroes, their uplifting songwriting was spread over five studio albums released in a period of some thirteen years.
‘Under The Blacklight’ was released in 2007, with Rilo Kiley opting to go on hiatus. Pursuing a number of solo projects, singer Jenny Lewis recently re-emerged as one half of the duo Jenny & Jonny.
Fans still hark back to Rilo Kiley, however, with some anticipating an eventual re-union. Those hopes have now been dashed, with guitarist Blake Sennett confirming that the band have split up.
Speaking to Spinner, the guitarist explained that the end of Rilo Kiley was actually quite messy. “I just felt like there was a lot of deception, disloyalty, greed and things I don’t really want to submit myself to. I had related that frustration to music but I just thought, ‘I’m not going to put myself in that position again,’ so I said, ‘Fuck that, I can’t do this anymore.'”
Continuing, the guitarist dismissed 2007’s ‘Under The Blacklight’ – what now stands as the band’s final studio album. “I don’t think it was our best record by far. I think that it could have been our best but I think we were under pressure” he explained.
“There were some of our best songs on that record but some of our worst songs. We have a ton of old tracks that are better than a lot of the stuff that did make the record.”
The news has obviously dismayed fans, with Rilo Kiley leaving a huge number of unreleased tracks. According to Blake Sennett, the band are planning to bring together a final compilation of rare and unheard cuts.
“I think we’re going to try and release a two-disc set of 40 songs, or something. I think that can be more considered like our last release, to me.”
Farewell then, Rilo Kiley.