What To Do With You

THE ERLY

Release Date: June 14th, 2023

Listen Here:

Spotify

The Erly Social Media

Instagram / Facebook / Spotify / Youtube / Website

Contact

Kevin Vargo (Mic1park/The Midpark Label): kevin@mic1park.com

Now that we have you on the elevator going down…

“What To Do With You” is about a relationship that reached its expiration date, but has yet to conclude. Juxtaposed with a cruising, sun-soaked soundscape, the indie-groove single from The Erly is the warm blanket you take with you on the road to clarity.

The Erly

The Erly is Alyssa Serviss (keys), Collin Mattiford (bass), Fran Gleason (drums), and Trevor McDonald (guitar). All members share the microphone for lead vocals. With their newest single, “What To Do With You,” The Erly continues with their vintage and expansive sound that would fit right in at both Woodstock ‘69 and at the indie nerve center that is SXSW. The creative energy they share is palpable—something not every band who has brought on a guitarist from Craigslist can boast. The band formed in 2017 and has since put out two albums (Shadows - 2018, Reckless - 2021) and two singles in 2022 (You’re Heaven, Tracing Circles), and plans to release new music and hit the road in 2023.

What To Do With You

What To Do With You exemplifies the emotional disconnection between two people in a dying relationship. It is told from the perspective of a person trying to pick up the pieces and salvage what may remain in the ruins. Their partner seems to only want a relationship when it is convenient. They manipulate and constantly plays mind games, creating a gaslit mass confusion. As they are trying to interpret the reality, it feels like they’re staring into a psychic’s crystal ball trying to see the future and peer into the past, yet what they see is completely clouded and unviable. Eventually, they lose grip on reality and their sense of what is real is completely out of touch. If you’ve ever been in a similar situation, you know it’s emotionally exhausting - You don’t know what to do.

Keyboardist Alyssa Serviss wrote the lyrics for “What To Do With You” while at a golf tournament. Written in just under 20 minutes on her phone’s notes app, it began at hole 6 and was completed by the end of hole 7. When listening to the instrumental, she noticed that the first three chords in the chorus progression mimic the Circle of Fifths, going right down the line, giving a feeling of push and pull to the music. She always correlated the circle of fifths with the moon, each different fifth being a phase of the moon’s cycle. Thus, the line “You keep changing like phases on the moon” was created.

The lead vocals by Alyssa were completely done in one take and remains unedited. In the second chorus, after the first “so tell me how it’s supposed to feel,” you can hear her clearing her throat in the background between phrases.

For guitarist Trevor McDonald, “What To Do With You” was his key out of writer’s block. The musical melody was initially conceived on the piano and the chord structure followed through the guitar. He felt inspired by Steely Dan’s “The Fez” and Heine Aabo’s “Europa.”

Drummer Fran Gleason wanted to keep the drums simplistic, allowing the melodies, vocal and instrumental, to breathe with ease. With each passing moment of the song, however, the drums and layers of percussion instruments intensify, leading to the outro where they explode with punches and fills that emphasize the rhythmic tendencies of the song.

The bass, supplied by Collin Mattiford, focuses much more on the musical stops and length of notes on the tune. Collin’s primary mission was to make sure the bass didn’t overstay its welcome for the more on-the-nose sections of the verses. This allowed the bass to open up more during the choruses and post-choruses, thereby giving the song much more dynamic versatility when needed.

Recording this song felt natural to The Erly, given the complex chording and stagnant rhythmic elements were never forced. The key ingredient in many ways is the contrast between verses and choruses. With the rhythm section having an air-tight seal in the verses, it helps open up the chorus, allowing it to flourish. As the song builds to the final chorus, the last thing it needed was a re-reveal of the intro riff in unison.

It’s authentic, yet traditional at the same time. Everything you hear was recorded by musicians in a studio. On top of the typical guitars, drums, and vocals, “What To Do With You” features a horn and string section of local Indiana musicians to embellish and expand the sound. “What To Do With You” pushes the door ajar into The Erly’s story, preparing the listener for what comes next.

Personnel (The Erly)

Alyssa Serviss: Lead Vocals, Keyboards

Collin Mattiford: Bass Guitar, Background vocals

Fran Gleason: Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals

Trevor McDonald: Guitars, Background Vocals

Music by The Erly, Lyrics by Alyssa Serviss

Production

Produced/Mixed/Engineered by Nick Rapley

Recorded at Dr Richards Audio in Valparaiso, IN, USA

Mastered by Jesse Cannon at Brooklyn Recording Paradise, New York, USA

Assistant Engineered by Paul Bennett

Horn and String Arrangements by Harris Karlin and Brian Moore

Lyrics

Gimme some indication

Where do we stand

Flipping on a dime

Running through my hands

Need some dedication

I’m hanging by a strand

Empty obligations, I misunderstand

Chorus

So tell me how I’m supposed to feel

Baby tell me how I’m supposed to feel

When you keep changing

Like the phases of the moon

I don’t know what to do with you

Hoping for a premonition, what will it take?

Back and forth again, bend me til I break

Using my intuition, make no mistake

But looking through the glass, almost opaque

Repeat Chorus

Heart need a restoration, is it too late?

Gather shattered pieces, see what we create

Gave you some persuasion, let me get it straight

You keep asking for more - disintegrate

Repeat Chorus

End

“What To Do With You” written by The Erly and published by Collin Mattiford (BMI), Trevor McDonald (BMI), Alyssa Serviss (BMI), Francis Gleason III (BMI)

theerlyband.com