Darlingside closes out Vilar’s Underground Sound Series in Beaver Creek Saturday

Darlingside closes out Vilar Performing Arts Center’s Underground Sound Series Saturday night with a slightly new lineup, which includes singer Molly Parden, keyboardist Deni Hlavinka and drummer Ben Burns as part of a six-piece band after core member David Senft decided to take time off from touring to spend more time with family.

“If you’ve listened to our last few records, you won’t be surprised how (we) sound, but the sound has gotten more expansive,” said band member Don Mitchell.

The four original musicians of Darlingside have always taken a collaborative approach to writing and have somehow sidestepped ego wars or incoherent collections that might dominate other groups. But during the pandemic, they couldn’t spend as much time together, “putting our heads together and dumping a lot of words out” and seeing what stuck, he said.

With its latest release, “Everything Is Alive,” the voices, personalities and vulnerability of each individual member emerged more, resulting in songs that alternate from character to character, so to speak, which provides a deeper intimacy and nuance. The album retains Darlingside’s lush harmonies but also focuses on individual voices as they each deal with personal and global changes. As such, the record revolves around “loss and the struggle for a semblance of redemption.”

“It’s more about feeling vulnerable and the day-to-day detail,” Mitchell said, comparing it to the three prior albums, which involved more conceptual themes around dreamwork and mood.

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The 1960’s and ’70s folk-rock world originally inspired Darlingside, causing listeners to compare the quartet’s harmonies to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — so the band members thought they should check out the legends. Once they did, they loved CSNY, but they also incorporated more contemporary aspects like Radiohead’s chord structures and used Nickel Creek as an early touchstone.

Since then, the Massachusetts-based band has blended its unique harmonies, a cappella, textured polyrhythms, vividly striking lyrics and multi-instrumental songs into dynamic indie rock.

Audiences can expect to hear a mix of new music with old favorites and “a few surprise new takes on the old songs,” Mitchell said, along with a few stripped-down versions and plenty of chatter between songs.

“We’re known for our inability to shut our mouths. It’s a good back and forth with the audience,” Mitchell said about sharing stories from the road and life in general between songs. He also gave a nod to the new touring members, whom the band has been recording with and known for years. “I think people will get to enjoy some of these new personalities in the band.”