After
Rilo Kiley released
The Execution of All Things in October 2002, the band's two co-founders took some time off to focus on different side projects.
Jenny Lewis recorded with
the Postal Service and toured in support of the band's gold-selling
Give Up, while
Blake Sennett formed
the Elected with guitarist
Mike Bloom, original
Ozma bassist
Daniel Brummel, and
Rilo Kiley's own drummer,
Jason Boesel. With a twangy indie rock sound that targeted alt-country and
Rilo Kiley fans alike,
the Elected signed with Sub Pop and released their debut album in early 2004. Unlike
Rilo Kiley's albums, which were co-written by
Sennett and
Lewis but tended to focus on the latter's voice,
Me First featured
Sennett in the frontman role.
Two years later, with another
Rilo Kiley album (
More Adventurous) in the vault,
Sennett resumed things with
the Elected.
Sun, Sun, Sun, a collection of summery pop/rock songs that evoked the West Coast, marked the band's second release for Sub Pop in 2006.
Jenny Lewis released her first solo record that same year, and
Rilo Kiley issued one final album -- their major-label debut, 2007's
Under the Blacklight -- before taking the longest hiatus of the band's career.
Sennett quit music during the interim and focused on cinema instead. While working on a script for his own short film,
Sennett agreed to an impromptu recording session, suggested by engineer
Jason Cupp who'd mixed
Sun, Sun, Sun several years prior. The session wound up yielding several new songs. Inspired,
Sennett resurrected
the Elected, shuffled its lineup, signed with Vagrant Records, and released the band's third album, 2011's
Bury Me in My Rings. ~ Andrew Leahey