The Polyphonic Spree

Tim DeLaughter guides the Polyphonic Spree, whose sound fuses psychedelic pop, orchestral rock, and gospel touches into an exuberant, life-affirming style. Emerging from Dallas in 2000, the symphonic pop ensemble functioned as both a musical unit and a 1960s-style “happening,” its two-dozen members appearing onstage in flowing white robes. Chart success arrived with Together We’re Heavy (2004) and The Fragile Army (2007), followed by Yes, It’s True (2013). After a long break the group issued the covers album Afflatus (2020) before returning to original material with Salvage Enterprise (2023). Although wardrobe evolved across the years, the ensemble’s core outlook stayed constant, echoing the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys while adding a lively Godspell-like energy.

DeLaughter, formerly frontman of Tripping Daisy, assembled the Polyphonic Spree after the 1999 drug-overdose death of bandmate Wes Berggren ended that earlier group. Recruiting surviving Tripping Daisy members and more than twenty additional musicians, he created a large-scale collective whose demo, The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree, circulated first at a holiday show and later received an official release on the Dallas indie label Good Records. The lineup—ten-member choir, dual keyboardists, percussion, bass, flute, trumpets, trombone, violin, French horn, Theremin, pedal steel, and an electronic-effects specialist—quickly established a distinctive identity.

DeLaughter assumed the roles of musical director and lead singer, and the Spree toured in a caravan of more than a dozen vans. Despite logistical challenges, the group attracted notice through emotionally charged performances, among them a 2003 appearance at the Reading Festival. Their single “Follow the Day” gained wider exposure via Volkswagen commercials and the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. Co-released by Good Records and Hollywood Records in summer 2004, the proper debut Together We’re Heavy earned further praise even after a harsh Entertainment Weekly critique.

The 2007 Wait EP steered the band toward a darker, more atmospheric palette, yet The Fragile Army, issued that same summer, revived the vivid Technicolor approach of earlier work. Now clad in black military-style outfits bearing red crosses, the musicians infused the album with fleeting melancholy and layered rock textures. The traveling tent-revival atmosphere persisted, documented on the later Live from Austin TX CD/DVD. In 2012 the collective tackled seasonal repertoire with Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays, Vol. 1, applying its buoyant touch to familiar Christmas standards. Further explorations followed: the 2013 live set Songs from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the crowd-funded studio album Yes, It’s True, and its 2014 companion remix collection Psychphonic. A covers compilation, Afflatus, appeared in 2021, succeeded in November 2023 by the second crowd-funded full-length Salvage Enterprise, whose single “Got Down to the Soul” led the release.