No time to 'wait': California-based indie outfit Local Natives kick off tour in ABQ, celebrate two new albums

May 5—Travis Rice is feeling a sigh of relief.

His happiness is tied to the release of Local Natives' latest album, "But I'll Wait for You."

"This record is a sister album to 'Time Will Wait for No One,' " Rice says. "It completes the larger body of work."

The California-based band will kick off its tour in Albuquerque with a show at Historic El Rey Theater at 7 p.m. Monday, May 6.

The band formed in Orange County, California, in 2005, as Cavil at Rest. The band took on the name Local Natives in 2008.

It is made up of Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Matthew Frazier and Nik Ewing.

The band's debut album, "Gorilla Manor," was released in 2009 and named after the house the band members shared.

Their second studio album, "Hummingbird", was recorded in 2013 with producer Aaron Dessner

"Sunlit Youth" was released in 2016 and "Violet Street" was released in 2019.

After a period of personal turmoil, the band recorded their fifth and sixth studio albums, "Time Will Wait for No One" in 2023 and "But I'll Wait for You" this year.

Ayer announced his departure from the band after the latest album's release.

Rice says the two most recent albums work together well.

"Some of the songs are new and some were done several years ago," he says. "There were a few songs that I had forgotten about. We knew we wanted to make the second record. So we planned accordingly with all the songs that we had."

Rice says during the pandemic, the band didn't get to see each other for a few years.

"Some people really thrived during the stoppage," he says. "For us, it was super hard and isolating. I had just become a father before the pandemic started. It was pretty tough. We had been on the road nonstop for more than 10 years. It was weird to be home."

Rice used the time to continue to write.

By 2022, the band came back together with a lot of the material and the idea for the sister albums came together.

"The material represents where we were at during this time," he says. "It's about self reflection. We tried to break down some of the barriers."

The band will perform songs from its entire career on the current tour.

With nearly 20 years worth of music, it's quite a task to get right.

"I'm still getting used to actually having a catalog of music," Rice says. "The last tour before the pandemic, that was our fourth record. The catalog was there. Then we come back now and there are 20 new songs. It's a huge addition."

Rice has been performing in the band since he was a teenager.

He says being on stage is a constant in his life.

"I've evolved and changed as a person over the course of time," he says. "My love for performing has been really steady. During the first two records when we were just starting out, after each show, we would critique the show. We'd pick it apart. As we get older and more mature, the only thing that matters is harnessing the energy. We've all learned how to be present in our performance."