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Headlights
Welcome to the Headlights page at Contactmusic where you will be able to find everything you need to know about Headlights.
Headlights Biography
From its inception, Headlights has represented an exercise in developing a musical vision. Following years of bringing the visions of others to life in the acclaimed pop act Absinthe Blind (Parasol Records), the three members of Headlights together provide insight into what they brought to the table in their former band, as well as how it limited them. In an immense and prosperous moment, the band is now more than ever an entity of its own.
Simply put, Headlights is anything but mere byproduct.
Following the demise of Absinthe Blind, Erin Fein and Brett Sanderson formed the short-lived guitarless band Orphans, which provided Fein a developmental first outlet as principle songwriter. Soon, Tristan Wraight returned to Champaign from a stint on the road as touring guitarist for Maserati and joined the band, invoking a startling change as he and Fein began a prolific period of songwriting together. The band changed completely, and in the thaw of the Illinois spring of 2004, Headlights was born in a farmhouse just north of Champaign.
The band quickly put together a set of songs and The Enemies EP was recorded at the band's farmhouse studio in a flourish. The EP was released to critical acclaim as a limited edition mailorder and tour-only EP. The first pressing sold out in a matter of a few short months. Headlights went on to share the stage with The Delgados, Mates of State, Magnolia Electric Co., The Appleseed Cast, Headphones, Mono, Earlimart, to name a few.
Headlights has been on tour long and often since, first branching throughout the Midwest and finally crossing the country (and back, several times now). In the process, Wraight and Fein have come to fruition as songwriters. Songs from Kill Them With Kindness found their way into setlists throughout 2005, with each show leaving old fans agog and gaining new fans to boot. The separate instrumental entities of Headlights' three members seems to become more coherent with each sitting, highlighting the band's development of an uncanny knack for soaring peaks and energetic compositions. The brilliant desperation of The Enemies EP proves to be alive and well in the new compositions but now accompanying it is a flourish of pop-orchestra instrumentation and epic harmonies. The promise inherent in Headlights' debut LP brought The Enemies EP an official release in non-limited form in November of 2005, and Headlights consequentially became an official member of the Polyvinyl Record Co. family.
2006 has been nothing if not a bright year so far. Headlights played a monstrous 72-date tour in the spring, released a split 7" with Ontario's Most Serene Republic (Arts & Crafts). In August, the band's debut LP Kill Them With Kindness bore its pretty face. The long-anticipated LP will shock even already-dedicated fans with its breadth and beauty, while newcomers have no choice but to fall in love: it's the power of pop music done perfectly, or at least perfectly enough to induce breathlessness; perhaps even the far-away look of being completely consumed, of jubilance. Kill Them With Kindness is a record huge and full and conclusive, a keystone installment in a developing watershed year. Expect more touring in support of the album, and the inevitable realization that Headlights is poised to be recognized as one of America's next top indie acts.
