Alisa Xayalith of The Naked and Famous Pulls Back the Curtain on ‘Simple Forms’

Aryeh Harris-Shapiro

The Naked and Famous are releasing their third album this Friday, the synthpop explosion “Simple Forms.” Since their first album, “Passive Me, Aggressive You” released in 2010, the fiercely independent New Zealand natives have specialized in intensely catchy songs that straddle the line between electronic and rock. The singles from “Simple Forms,” including the soaring anthem “Higher,” promise more of the same. Lead singer and songwriter Alisa Xayalith recently spoke with Entertainment Voice about returning to the band’s roots and the personal struggles behind the new record.

Being from New Zealand originally before taking up residency in the U.S., has the geographical change had an effect on the content and feel of your music?

It’s funny. We get asked this question all the time, whether our environment affects the writing process, but we’re such an insular group of people. Our environment doesn’t seem to affect what content comes out of us when we’re writing songs. I guess everything that comes from us isn’t all based on life experiences or personal emotional situations me and my mates might be feeling, but yeah, environment doesn’t really directly affect our songwriting at all.

The Naked and Famous began hitting the festival circuit again this year and performing a string of shows for the first time since 2014. Now that you are about to kick off a full tour in support of “Simple Forms,” how does it feel to be getting back on the road after so long?

To be honest, I think I feel a lot differently compared to the other guys, but it’s a bit of a culture shock for me because I’m a fairly quiet person, I live a fairly quiet life, I’m pretty introverted. I do a lot of things on my own and all of a sudden being on a tour bus with twelve people and playing shows to a sea of faces is a stark contrast to how my daily life usually is. When I’m writing, I’m writing by myself or with the band. So that’s five people max on the daily.  So I’m easing my way into it. I was pretty anxious the first week being back on the road, but it’ll be something I get used to again. I’ve only been doing this for ten years. Sometimes I question how I managed to do it all those other years. It’s pretty funny how things changed.

You’ve been very open about your breakup with bandmate Thom Powers between your last album and this one. As an introvert, was it difficult to make that part of your life so public?

It was really difficult because in the past we’ve always made a point to never make it a thing, until we couldn’t anymore because it did become a thing when we broke up and it affected everybody. So yeah, it was really difficult, because you really are opening that door to a pretty private experience in life.

How does it feel now that the door’s open?

I feel a sense of relief, because I can just be honest about everything and I don’t have to cover it up and worry about people going, ‘Ooh, are they or aren’t they or were they a couple?’ It’s nice to have the real truth out there. Yeah, we were a couple. We broke up. We’re still in the band, we still make music, y’know? And we’re moving on and it’s great. The music is the very thing that brought us together and it’s kept us together as a band.

Speaking of the music, your past two albums “Passive Me, Aggressive You” and “In Rolling Waves” were huge successes. How do you think fans will react to the stylistic changes on “Simple Forms”?

I think for us we set out to make a pop record, and it was a pretty ambitious task from the get-go. But I think we achieved what we meant to achieve. I think I can say that people that fell in love with the Naked and Famous initially with songs like ‘Young Blood’ and ‘Punching in a Dream,’ they’re going to find those moments all over this record. I feel like in a way we’ve returned to our pop roots on this record. It’s a very vocally demanding record. It’s the poppiest thing we’ve done to date, and we’re proud of it because that’s what we set out to do.

What was the most challenging or the most rewarding part of the “Simple Forms” production process?

I got really ill towards the end of the recording process. I was so stressed out that my body was just freaking out. And we had this one song to finish called ‘Laid Low’ and we were recording my vocals and I had terrible sinuses and everything just sounded awful. And that in itself was put a lot of pressure on me, because it was all riding on me to get the song done. And I ended up having to go to the doctor and get all this medicine and antibiotics and nose strips. That day when I was recording vocals for the song was hilarious. Thom would stop me midway through a take and he would go ‘Alisa, could you try moving that nose strip further up your nose or down to see if it would make a difference in the resonant tone that’s coming out of you.’ It was pretty funny, but I was so determined to get that vocal take and I’m really, really happy we did.

What is running through your mind right now, knowing that the record is officially releasing tomorrow?

I have a bit of anxiety and a sense of a relief. I’m ready to just let those records go out into the world and move onto the next thing. I think this record was a cathartic process, and writing music for me has always been a medium where I can just release things and let things out, and I’m ready to let those records go and move on.

Your band has always been notable for your eclectic set of influences. What art are you consuming right now that you think your fans should check out?

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts. One that I really love listening to is Modern Love from the New York Times. I am a huge junkie for other people’s love stories. Growing up my mom would always watch soap operas and I think that’s rubbed off on me in my adult life. I love getting lost in other people’s stories about love and loss and heartbreak. I highly recommend it.

“Simple Forms” is available on Apple Music Oct. 14