Audrye Sessions

It begins with Ryan Karazija strumming a few chords, then the drums kick in with a healthy thwack. As fans migrate hypnotically toward the stage, Alicia Marie Campbell's bass line dances in and everything locks into place: the soaring vocals and ringing guitar line of Audrye Sessions' first single "Turn Me Off" permeates every corner of the club and when singer-guitarist Karazija hits the epic high note on the line "Finally set me free" the crowd isn't just won over — they're stunned and grinning.

This is how Oakland quartet Audrey Sessions have been winning over audiences and radio DJs across America. Their self-titled Black Seal debut — out February 17th — is packed with polished, propulsive rock songs and gentle, stripped-down tunes with the kind of ear-grabbing melodies that instantly hard-wire themselves into your brain. The album — recorded with Andrew Scheps (U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash) and Matt Radosevich (The Hives, Taking Back Sunday) — is anchored by Karazija's remarkable voice, which is whisper vulnerable one minute, roiling with emotion the next and easily slips into a smooth falsetto. A voice like Karazija's does not arrive every day.

Audrye Sessions arrived when bassist Alicia Marie Campbell met Karazija, who was gigging solo in coffee houses after his previous band split up. His early musical loves included the Beatles, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Radiohead and Oasis. But Karazija's true love has always been slow-churning melodies ("My heart beats slow," he says), and when he hooked up with the Björk-adoring former model Campbell, it was time for a change. Looking for more players, Karazija hit Craigslist and stumbled upon Michael Knox, who answered a seeking-guitarist ad by announcing he didn't have a guitar. The band's current drummer, James Leste, has been part of the lineup since 2007 and Knox says they're an eclectic little family now. The outfit picked up the moniker Audrye Sessions from a commercial for a CD burner that happened to be on the television when a venue called demanding a name.

Audrye Sessions soon became a hot commodity in Oakland, working with frequent Bright Eyes collaborator Anton Patzner (who contributed strings and keys). Their first tour began inauspiciously when Hurricane Katrina struck, and their time on the road has been filled with truly bizarre adventures. "We saw an airplane crash on a freeway and Mike saw an orgy at a truck stop," Campbell recalls (Knox is all too willing to recount it). When they returned home, the band realized they needed something to sell at shows other than the merch handcrafted by Campbell, the band's de facto art director, and hit the studio to record Braille, which was released in June 2007. (For a good time, ask them about the haunted barn where they recorded their first EP We Can All Sail Away.)

Audrye Sessions shows off Karazija's unbelievable command of melody and the band's ability to channel his vision into masterful rock songs. "Perfect Sometimes" begins with a purring organ but explodes into a huge chorus while Karazija sings about the flaws of human nature ("Sometimes we all get carried away"). The band snaps into a smooth groove for "Julianna," a pounding breakup song that rocks with regret. Karazija sings about reclaiming a lost dream on the contemplative "Relentless," which recalls Travis with its lush orchestration and harmonies. Knox and Karazija's guitars duel in tight solos on the fierce "Paper Faces," but on the Elliott Smith-esque "New Year's Day" Karazija finger-picks a gorgeous lament about "another year that's slipped away" (just a few songs later, he's shredding his throat raw on the climax of the raw, emotional "Nothing Pure"). On "Where You'll Fine Me" Karazija nails another impressive series of huge notes, his voice surrounded by a wall of horns, bells and orchestral flourishes.

First single "Turn Me Off" is actually darker than listeners would expect: "I was watching a show where James Gandolfini interviews people that have come back from war," Karazija says. "There was one guy who lost his eyes and his life has completely changed. He has these awful dreams and doesn’t want to be alive. The song talks about being so messed up that you want to be shut off."

For Karazija, lyrics usually come after melodies ("My favorite band is Sigur Ros and I don't know anything they're saying and it doesn’t matter," he explains), and there's no shortage of material yet to come. "I write every day," he says, and his iPod is packed — inadvertently — with only his own work. "I didn't know how to hook up my iPod, so I plugged it into my computer and it took all my songs from Garage Band into iTunes." But Karazija, who's been known to text friends with complete songs he's composed in the car so he can remember them, knows his spontaneous writing process works just fine: "I'll wait for lyrics to happen, and one day I'll find something perfect."