One AM Radio re-examines lush indie pop

Media Credit: Courtesy of DANGERBIRD RECORDS The low-key "This Too Will Pass" reflects on a trip to India.

When The One AM Radio formed eight years ago, it was primarily a solo effort. Hrishikesh Hirway recorded his first tape while at Yale, using just his voice, acoustic strumming and raw emotion.

"I was a computer science major at Yale, with a minor in art, actually," Hirway said. "I'd always been interested in music and there was always a lot of it in my family. My sister played the violin, and my mom would always sing to me, and I played the piano."

At Yale, Hirway met fellow student and violinist Jane Yakowitz, and The One AM Radio recorded and released its first album, "The Hum of the Electric Air," in 2002. Since then, Yakowitz has left and several other musicians have joined Hirway's band. After another album ("A Name Writ in Water") and a remix ("On the Shore of the Wide World") released through Level Plane, Hirway recently released his third EP, "This Too Will Pass," earlier this year.

The album continues to showcase Hirway's airy indie-pop melodies in the vein of a lighter Bright Eyes, or less ironic, even less sardonic Belle and Sebastian.

"I could see how that comparison would be relevant, but I think the electronic sound would make the difference between the two," Hirway said in response. "It's so hard to categorize my own music, because when you list a genre people automatically start thinking certain things. I guess I would describe my music as a mix of folk and singer/songwriter, with electronic beats."

"This Too Will Pass" sounds much like other indie-pop endeavors. One is bound to hear just about everything in Hirway's song constructions, from Death Cab's bouncing beats to Grizzly Bear's more muted, caressing vocals.

"It's hard to say who your influences are because, really, everything you hear winds up in your music," Hirway said. "I just realized, after going back and listening to one of the tracks on this record, that I stole some chords from João Gilberto. He plays Brazilian bossa nova, from the '50s and '60s."

Hirway has managed to briefly emerge from indie obscurity when he worked with Ted Leo on a split album released on Garbage Czar Records in 1999. The album is out of print. While Hirway credits the endeavor as helpful in exposure, he remains modest about its influence.

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