Kevin Bronson on July 17th, 2015

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Informed by the classic, cosmic California sounds of the 1960s and ’70s, High Desert Fires have one of those Only-in-L.A. stories bred in the rustic terrain of Topanga Canyon. The pedigreed sextet is the brainchild of guitarist Chris Traynor, known for his work with the Les Paul in bands such as Helmet, Orange 9mm, Rival Schools and Bush. The forthcoming High Desert Fires debut “Light Is The Revelation,” is another beast, though, a kind of sonic spirit quest. It started after Traynor’s metaphorical crate-digging inspired some songs of his own, which he then shared with his wife, bassist Sibyl Buck, who among other exploits has played with Joseph Arthur’s Lonely Astronauts. Soon the couple’s Topanga housemates were involved, including versatile guitarist Jen Turner (Natalie Merchant, Here We Go Magic, et al), singer Gabriella Da Silva, keyboardist Drew Broadrick and drummer Taylor McLam.

No lo-fi affair, the album (out next week) includes a choir and strings, and Joyner recorded it to analog tape. The back story, if not the music, recalls another L.A. collective, the Alex Ebert-led Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, but the album’s lead track “Azrael” suggests that like his forebears Traynor has found a karmic link between the canyon and desert. “I wanted ‘Azrael’ to establish the desert theme of ‘Light Is The Revelation’ like the musical equivalent of a cinematic long shot, such as the opening scenes of Sergio Leone’s classic, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West,’” he explains. “Similarly, ‘Azrael’ sets the tone for a story of the spiritual Wild West, as it opens the record on a billowing cloud of sonic dust.”

||| Stream: “Azrael”