Givers scored a sleeper indie-pop hit with their 2011 debut, In Light —a technicolor jumble of tag-teamed male-female hooks, Afro-pop rhythms and psychedelic flourishes. And the past four years played out like a storybook success for the Louisiana quintet: National-level reviews, TV licensing (their jubilant "Up Up Up" soundtracked a Lipton Iced Tea commercial), festival slots and tours with acclaimed acts like Bon Iver. 

But the four-year recording drought also appeared dubious from the outside: Had the band's creative spark fizzled? Turns out Givers just weren't interested in forcing the issue. Instead, they let inspiration track them down. New Kingdom is the result: 13 sleek, throbbing electro-art-pop jams that push their songwriting into bold new territory while maintaining the experimental mindset that singer-guitarist Taylor Guarisco calls "one foot in the weird, one foot in the world." 

Myspace spoke with Guarisco about the album's long gestation period, the band's creative evolution and the importance of "clearing the mind" for inspiration.

You've already begun a month-long run of shows, but you're at a week or so break. How have the shows been going, and have you been playing much new material? 

We've been playing the majority of new songs the past couple shows we've done, and it's been great. It's this refreshing energy you get to experience playing these new creations in front of people. It's weird sometimes playing a bunch of songs people don't know at first. We're testing people in a way, like, "Hey, you're coming to see a band you're used to and familiar with. Here are the new songs—get used to it, motherfucker!" [Laughs] We're a band that's always pushing for a new experience for us, so we're always going to push for a new experience for everybody.

Most bands who release a slightly under-the-radar critical favorite album, like you did with In Light, would try to rush out a follow-up. Obviously you didn't, since it's taken four years to get New Kingdom. I know you did a lot of touring behind In Light. Other than that, what took so long? 

I guess it's all relative to other bands, but for us, it made sense to not think about that at all. There was not going to be any commercial deadline to dictate how this album was created, and we weren't going to allow pressure from anything besides the songs and what they wanted to do. We knew we wanted to create a whole new world, to take the idea of this band—keep all the things we love about it, a certain rhythmic nature and groove approach—and make an album with entirely new grooves and sounds, but not lose that fundamental DNA that made us what we ware. To do that, it took more introspective seeking, and it was more methodical than the first record to craft all these songs to fit together as an album. We took the time it needed to feel complete, to make it feel entirely different from In Light but still maintaining certain connections that maintain the body of work. 

There's more of an emphasis on soulful melodies and electronic elements on the new album—and definitely a pushing back of guitars. 

This band was born out of the idea that we wanted to try something new. We'd all played together in bands with different combinations of us, and this was the one that would allow us to express uncharted territories. That was one of the pillars that this band was established on, and this album was going to still have that. A part of that was looking at all the things on the first record and exploring new things. 

Were you implementing more computers and synthesizers in your writing process, or did those elements emerge in the production process? Did the writing change at all compared to In Light? 

If you look at the canvas of the old record, it was a lot of guitars, a lot of this and that. And with the way this band operates and feels good when we're being honest, it would make sense that we would go in a different direction and use different elements that weren't on the first record, like synthesizers. We ended up, not consciously but silently, creating these guidelines to steer us away from what was comfortable on the first record—always pushing ourselves toward something. People want to experience something fresh but still have that familiarity. That became the unifying concept of the songs: a mix of something familiar with something alien and new.

What's interesting is that, on paper, this electro-pop style is all over American pop radio right now: lots of big, festival-friendly synths, electronic percussion. At its core, a song like "Mother of Love" could almost pass for Katy Perry. But you guys add so many interesting instrumental flourishes and creative touches that it's really unique. Did you craft these songs with any hopes of grabbing a wider audience? 

No, that would have fucked us up. The thing that's guiding us at the end of the day in the studio is, "Does the song feel like a unique thing? Does it feel like a unique, special place that we've never been before?" If we thought about where or how it was gonna end up, it would pull us out of the moment and the realness of that moment. As human sponges, we can't help but soak up inspirations from around us, whether they be modern or old-world, but we're not a band who sets out to create something that would fit into other people's idea. That might keep us as a band that's artful and a little weird with these bursts of catchiness. But that's how this band operates: one foot in the weird, one foot in the world

You guy have flirted with funk in the past—it's definitely an element in your music. But the main groove on "Layback" is borderline Bootsy Collins.  

Josh [LeBlanc] showed up with this really funky bassline. He had this MIDI pick-up set-up on his guitar, so he was playing synth-bass on his guitar. He just started riffing on this bassline and grooving it, with all of us jamming on it in this room. It was definitely a fun departure. There are definitely no funk grooves on the first album like that, no four-on-the-floor pattern. This whole album has been about exploring things we haven't explored before. 

Did you guys discuss any particular sonic reference points for the album, or did this evolution all happen organically? 

We really like to have it come from this natural, special place. Not to sound cheesy, but a pure place. If we were to start throwing out references and comparisons, I think that would taint the trajectory of how the album came out. Part of the process was trying to clear the mind of everything and go off the radar. I go into this weird state where I don't listen to other people's music for a minute. I don't keep my ear to the ground or shit, just let our thing create itself.