The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, and instruments such as

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, electronic keyboards, and EWI.

History

DeLaughter's previous group,

Tripping Daisy Tripping Daisy is a neo-psychedelic pop rock band that was formed in Dallas, Texas, by lead singer/guitarist Tim DeLaughter in 1990 along with Jeff Bouck (drums), Wes Berggren (guitar) and Mark Pirro (bass). The group disbanded in 1999 fo ...

, came to an abrupt end in 1999 when guitarist Wes Berggren died of a drug overdose. The Polyphonic Spree was formed, in part, in reaction to Berggren's death. In 2000, DeLaughter collaborated with 12 other musicians to put together a sound that reflected the music he grew up with. He wanted to explore the orchestral palette and pop sensibility of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...

The 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop, pop soul, and psychedelic soul. They were an important crossover music act of the 1960s and 1970s, although both praised and derided for their particular music ...

, Wings,

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

and the vocal style of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

from

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

. Within two weeks, The Polyphonic Spree created a 30-minute set, donned their signature white choir robes and performed with

Grandaddy Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California, Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden, until Garcia's death in 2017 following a ...

and Bright Eyes. Shortly after their first show, 12 more musicians joined the band, and they recorded '' The Beginning Stages of ... The Polyphonic Spree'', which contained all nine songs (sections) written for their first show plus a tenth track ("Section 10 – Long Day"). The album was intended to serve as a demo recording for booking the band for live performances. As a result of the attention they received from the press and other industry pundits after performing at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

music festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, the band was invited to perform at London's Meltdown Festival curated by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

in 2002. They opened for

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

the same year. In early 2003, they were dropped by their record label,

679 Recordings 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner Mu ...

, for "lack of record sales". About this time, the band began to break into pop culture. The song " Light and Day" was used in a joint

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

tie-in advertising campaign, appearing on television commercials nationwide in 2004. The same song was used in a tribute to Bill Walsh during an NFL football preseason special, in an episode of the TV series '' Scrubs'', in '' Murderball'', a documentary about the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, and as the end music for the first series of the BBC Radio 7 sci-fi comedy '' Undone''; the song's video was adapted for the movie ''

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' is a 2004 American surrealist science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman from a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. Starring Jim Carrey a ...

'' (the DVD features a clip). Also during this time the band was invited to be an opening act for Bowie's Reality Tour and again performed at

. In 2004,

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

released the Spree's second album, '' Together We're Heavy'', in Japan on June 30, Europe on July 12, and North America on July 13, 2004. The band was featured on '' Scrubs'' on April 20, 2004, in the episode " My Choosiest Choice of All" (season 3, episode 19); and on the TV show ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

'' on November 29, 2004, in the episode "Silver Star" (season 2, episode 10). In December 2004, the Polyphonic Spree performed at the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Concert, honoring

Wangari Maathai Wangari is a name of Kikuyu origin that may refer to: * Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), Kenyan environmental and political activist * Catherine Wangari Wainaina (born 1985), Kenyan beauty pageant contestant * Margaret Wangari Muriuki (born 1986), K ...

before a worldwide television audience. 2005 saw the release of '' Thumbsucker'', a feature film by

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

, with a score composed by Tim DeLaughter and performed by The Polyphonic Spree. On June 19, 2007, the band released their third complete album, '' The Fragile Army'', produced by John Congleton. On their 2007 tours The Polyphonic Spree replaced their robes with black army outfits while continuing to don the robes during encores. In July 2007, the song "Running Away" was featured on the Sci-Fi network in commercials for its upcoming season. In the autumn of 2007,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

commissioned artists to write theme songs for

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

teams as part of a campaign called "MLS Represent", and the Polyphonic Spree was chosen to write a song for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. The result was the song "H-O-O-P-S Yes!" In September 2007, the Polyphonic Spree performed three songs: "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun", "Soldier Girl", and "Light to Follow", at Oscar de la Renta's Spring 2008 Fashion Show for

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

. They recorded the opening track to the Showtime series

Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...

for season 2 (episode 9), and also contributed to the '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' and ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'' tribute CDs. UK channel

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

used "Running Away" to advertise their spring and summer cricket coverage. UK supermarket

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

continues to use "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun" for its advertising campaign. It became the most-used song in advertising in the United Kingdom. In 2009, the band wrote and performed the opening sequence to Showtime's new show '' The United States of Tara'', which stars

Toni Collette Toni Collette (born Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television, blockbusters and independent films, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, wit ...

as a woman with multiple personality disorder. They first performed the song live on their Australian tour, in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun" was also featured on the "Your UQ" advertising campaign for the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. On July 11, 2011, the band released Bullseye, an interactive music video app for iOS devices featuring the first single from a collection of songs. "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun" was featured in the movie trailer for the 2012 animated film '' The Lorax''. On October 11, 2012, the band launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign to fund their next studio album, tour, live album, and concert DVD. They reached their funding goal of $100,000 on November 28. The band's '' Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays, Vol. One ''was released in 2012, featuring an original introduction, outro and Polyphonic Spree cover versions of classic Christmas songs including " Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and " Let it Snow". On August 6, 2013, the band played a sold-out concert at London's Village Underground to mark the release of their album '' Yes, It's True''. The performance was broadcast live on

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

. A US release show at the Granada Theater in Dallas followed on August 9, and the band toured in support of the album worldwide. A live DVD was released in October 2013, and the band played their famous Holiday Extravaganza in Dallas, Texas on December 21. In 2014 the band released the studio album '' Psychphonic''. The Polyphonic Spree headlined the 2015 Big D NYE party, December 31, 2014, at Dallas's Victory Park at the

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Victory Park, Dallas, Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National ...

. The free outdoor concert was attended by a crowd of over 40,000, who gathered for the annual New Year's Eve event. Perhaps because of the 35 °F weather, the choir wore matching winter ponchos, while other musicians wore pajamas. DeLaughter's headgear resembled a Fred Flintstone Grand Poobah lodge hat (tall fur with buffalo horns). Covers included Wings' "Band on the Run" and the Thunderclap Newman hit "Something in the Air". The band occasionally paused to sync with television cues, as the concert was broadcast live to a regional television audience of over 12 million in Texas and surrounding states. ''Afflatus'' was released on April 16, 2021. ''Afflatus'' is a cover album featuring songs by bands such as

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

, and Rush. On November 17, 2023, The Polyphonic Spree released their eighth studio album, ''Salvage Enterprise.''

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

*''Soldier Girl'' (2002) #4 UK (Budget Albums) *''Light & Day'' (2003) *'' Wait EP'' (2006) *''We Hope It Finds You Well'' (2020)

Singles

Live CDs/DVDs

*''Live From Austin, TX: The Polyphonic Spree'' (2004) *''Coachella'' (2006) *''SXSW Live 2007'' DVD (2007) *''You + Me - Live in NYC (2013)''

Film soundtracks

*''

'' (2004) *'' Scrubs'' (2004) *''

'' (2004) *'' Thumbsucker'' (2005) *'' Mozart and the Whale'' (2005) *'' Murderball'' (2005) *'' The Best Man'' (2005) *'' Keeping Up with the Steins'' (2006) *'' Visioneers'' (2008) * '' The Lorax ''(2012) *''

The Big Short ''The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine'' is a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the United States housing bubble during the 2000s. It was released on March 15, 2010, by W. W. Norton & Company. It spent 28 weeks on '' ...

'' (2015)

Other

*'' Wig in a Box'', "Wig in a Box" (2003) *''Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig'' DVD (2006) *'' Nightmare Revisited'', "Town Meeting Song" (2008)

Notes

Members

;Current members ;Past members (incomplete listing)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polyphonic Spree, The 2000 establishments in Texas 679 Artists artists American pop music groups Cherry Red Records artists Hollywood Records artists Mixed-gender bands Musical collectives Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups from Dallas Musical groups from Denton, Texas Psychedelic pop music groups Psychedelic rock music groups from Texas TVT Records artists