Arcay Hits The Mark

“Baby if I wanna be your man / gonna have to try and understand / that happiness is not just bought and sold / and you’re so scared to lose control,” Rob Kurfehs sings midway through ​“Elaine, You Should’ve Known Better,” the first track on Arcay’s new release, Everything You Know Is Wrong.

Beneath his voice, a twangy, California sound mixed with alt-country enters the musical frame guitar first, accompanied by steady drums and a sweet sliver of plunky folk. Something’s afoot, the lyrics suggest, and it’s going to be good. Slightly devastating, but very good.

Mixed by Greg Giorgio at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, this clean, modest string of 6 tracks showcases the group’s talent on the local scene and Kurfehs’ move into musical maturity. With Kurfehs on vocals, guitars, piano, and synths, Jason Labbe (Snake Oil, Wagon Riders) on drums, Adrian Van De Graaff on bass, Rob Burger (Iron & Wine, Tin Hat Trio, Norah Jones) on piano, keys, and miscellaneous instruments, Jon Graboff (Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Phil Lesh) on pedal steel guitar, and Ben Dean (Caravan of Thieves) on violin and strings, the songs invite collaboration and variety.

While Arcay has found strength in its core team — Kurfehs, Adam Chambers, Jason Grant, and John McGrath — when playing live, this variety is what makes the album worth listening to more than once. The songs focus on what Kurfehs identifies as heartache — the getting lost and found and lost again that occurs during a breakup, which is precisely when the album was written. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that upward momentum doesn’t last longer than a song or two. It’s not meant to. This is an album that revels in its despondence.

Credit goes not just to Kurfehs, whose lilt and whine fit the bill, but to his collaborators, who add a degree of intrigue and nuance to the music. The quality — almost everything is played and recorded on vintage instruments — kicks the creativity up another notch. Tracks like ​“Lost in Chelsea,” meld smart lyrics and a sense of supreme melancholy with a bluesy beat beneath the vocals. Pieces like ​“Autumn” have a catchy drumbeat and Sufjan Stevens-esque sound. Fuzz​’s (Deep Banana Blackout, Caravan of Thieves) arrangement on ​“Porcelain Girl” gives the listener a charmed sort of nostalgia. And ​“Hollow Life,” perhaps the most compelling song on the album for its catchy opening and hard-to-acknowledge thesis, lures the listener in with a looping guitar refrain that channels the annals of folk.

After Kurfehs’ 2008 release of Fade-In, the change and growth marked by Everything You Know is Wrong is exciting. Kurfehs is enthusiastic about the change.

“The new album sparks a directional change in sound, with a clear nod to alt-country and roots rock,” he said. ​“This dedication to vintage sound has established a warm, analog sound to the album.”

There is one thing he leaves out: the album’s unapologetic, kind of delightful, and musically mastered tone of dejectedness. It points to what’s next for him, after Everything You Know got the creative juices flowing.

“The recording process was very stripped down in a way, and we were definitely aiming for a 1970s sort of feel. At this point, I have about 50 songs written that have never been committed to tape. I’m aiming to record 2 albums simultaneously as the next step. The process will be different. I have a fantastic, crazy talented band now, and instead of playing with session musicians like on the last record, I want these next projects to be a true collaboration.”