Candycoatedwaterdrops (Compact Disc)

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It must be exhausting being the one in charge. Plumb has been in the studio for months working on their sophomore release, candycoatedwaterdrops, and lead singer and band founder Tiffany Arbuckle, sitting Indian-style in her chair, can hardly hold a conversation without sipping her special lemon honey hot tea. The whirlwind schedule of making this album seems to be finally catching up with her, taking a toll on her voice.

"We've got half a mix going on in L.A., half a mix going on in Nashville," she says, cupping the tea with both hands. "Two songs are still being tracked. This past week has been pre-production rehearsal. We take a photo shoot, and it doesn't work so we have to take another photo shoot. Then you have shows in-between. It's just been crazy for the last four months."

It might be because this album is requiring more work than usual. Despite the popularity of the group's self-titled debut (which sold a reported 100,000 units), this project is going a completely different musical direction. In fact, candycoatedwaterdrops will probably shock many of the group's fans. Plumb's days of being an aggressive, female-fronted alternative band--as they were originally labeled--are all but gone. Welcome a deeper, more mature Plumb.

Candycoatedwaterdrops finds the group veering focus away from the big beats and loops of their debut to a more radio-friendly, middle-of-the-road pop sound. The shift is reflective of the band finally finding their true voice. "On the first album I was at two ends of the spectrum," Tiffany says. "'Crazy' is so different from 'Endure.' I tried it, threw it out there and it did well, but over the last two years I was thinking, You know, I'm not really the 'Crazy' type. I like deeper songs like 'Sobering' and 'Endure' more.

"I like musically solid, mature songs," she says. "Through touring so much over the last two years, we now know more of who we are instead of who someone wants us to be."

Plumb's new sound should strike a chord with fans of Rebecca St. James, Sarah Masen or mainstream sensation Natalie Imbruglia, of whom many of the tracks are reminiscent. In fact, the project has a direct connection to Imbruglia: much of Candycoatedwaterdrops is produced by Matt Bronleewe, who wrote with and produced Imbruglia's smash album (he also co-produced Plumb's first album).

The edgy, alternative tracks from Plumb's debut have been replaced with easy-to-swallow, yet lyrically deep, pop. "We wanted to change our sound into something a bit more mature and not as dark and quirky as the first album," keyboardist Matt Stanfield says. The end result? A project some fans of the debut will love, while some won't.

The angst-ridden, guitar-heavy sound is gone. The keyboards and guitars are both scaled way back, allowing for an airy, melodic sound. Because of this, the spotlight falls on Tiffany's vocals and the album's tight production. To that end, Essential Records also brought in producer Glenn Rosenstein (U2, Madonna, Caedmon's Call) for several songs.

The album also includes the London Symphony Recording Orchestra on some songs, the string parts written, orchestrated and conducted by Tom Howard (who's worked with the likes of Bob Carlisle and The Choir). "It was so passionate and beautiful," Tiffany remarks.

While the feel of candycoatedwaterdrops is noticeably different from the first album, change is nothing new for Plumb. Since the band's inception, it seems as if they've done more than their share of it.

At first, Plumb wasn't even supposed to be a band at all. After Tiffany paid her Christian music dues as a back-up singer for artists like Lisa Bevill and Benjy Gaither, Essential Records signed her to a record contract. The original working idea was for her to do a sort of Debbie Gibson-like solo thing under the stage name Tiff Tyler. Though that album (slated to be called Galaxy Girl) was never made, Tiffany can be seen in early publicity photos sporting a pink wig and tu-tu. "It was just stupid," she admits.

"When I used to be a back-up singer, I didn't know who I was because I sang everyone else's music," Tiffany says. "When I was handed the opportunity to do my own style, I had no clue what I wanted to do. The reason I had on a pink wig and a couple of quirky songs is because I was experimenting. [Essential] had signed me not knowing if I was going to do a band thing or a solo thing. I just started writing." After a brief stint under the Tiff Tyler label, it was obvious to her a change needed to be made. She wanted to have a band name.

"I realized if I gave it a band name, I would make it a band," she says. "They would be in the pictures and videos. We would put our live show together, make decisions together. It wouldn't be just me with them as hired guns."

Thus, Plumb was born. Well, at least in name. As recording started on the first album, Tiffany was still the only real member. Studio musicians were hired until the permanent members could be found. "Joe [Porter, drums] and Matt [keyboards] were called in as session players," Tiffany says. "I was totally sold on them. I asked them to join, but because at that point the band was just me and everything was so new, I thought, They aren't going to commit to this. I thought I'd have to get some cheap college kids who wanted to be in a band, and here these were actual professional players."

Pick up the latest issue of Release Magazine at your local store or check out their website for more artist interviews.

Used with permission, Release Magazine