Brooklyn’s Matt Pond PA is nearly finished with its next studio album just months after releasing 2007’s labored Last Light. In an exclusive interview with Relix, Pond revealed that he recently recorded a handful of new tracks in his mother’s bedroom with the latest version of his ever-changing band: Dan Crowell (drums), Steve Jewett (guitar), Matthew Daniel Siskin (bass) and Chris Hansen (keyboard/guitar). Unlike Last Light, which was recorded at upstate New York’s famed Bearsville studios over an extended period of time, Pond says his next release is “the most grooving thing we’ve ever done.” The singer/songwriter describes the disc as having “more of a group mentality” and, therefore, will likely come out under the name The Dark Leaves instead of Matt Pond PA.

“You feel like you have a lot more backup when you are group, instead of under your dumb ass name,” Pond says. “Our last record was a big fight for us. A bunch of people didn’t do what they said they were going to do, so a bunch of things fell onto me.” It was unclear who Pond was referring to---the several producers that worked on Last Light in various capacities or former bandmate Brian Pearl, who had significant contributions to the band’s breakout albums Emblems and Several Arrows Later and who has since left the band. “You learn something from every record and, on this next record, we worked together in a really dynamic way. Not to sound cocky, I don’t think we made a mistake.”   

Though his band is still touring under its old moniker, Pond can already feel a shift in its group dynamic. “We play so much together that we are a band,” he says. “It’s time we give everyone else their due credit.”

Please click here to hear Pond talk about The Dark Leaves and play a handful of songs on Relix’s Cold Turkey podcast.