The Cave Singers’ fourth album Naomi is, in many ways, a signifier of change for the Seattle group. Since the release of 2011’s No Witch, the band’s first for the Jagjaguwar label, The Cave Singers have enlisted a new bassist, convened with producer Phil Ek and purposely evolved their musical aesthetic. But beyond these concrete shifts, there have also been changes in the members themselves.

“We have a tendency to live in the past – I feel like a lot of people do,” singer/guitarist Pete Quirk says from his cell phone before the release of the album in March. “And it’s overwhelming to live there. A lot of the lyrics from our older albums were about the past and I was sick of that. It’s exhausting living in the past because you can’t change it. There was a shift for me to write about trying to be more in the present.”

Quirk, who speaks softly and deliberately, was suffering from a recent breakup when it came time to make Naomi. The group had paused for a moment after touring behind No Witch and Quirk had spent the time grappling with this idea of the unchanging past and how to move forward in the world. The album may not tell a traditional narrative, but it does convey a story of sorts, based largely on Quirk’s own experiences. “I felt very clear and felt, for some reason, very capable of being honest – more so than ever,” he notes. “There’s personal stuff in there about my long-term relationship that ended and things changing – letting things change.”

The band – Quirk, guitarist Derek Fudesco, drummer Marty Lund and new bassist Morgan Henderson – took the honest tone of Quirk’s experiences and applied them to the dynamic indie folk numbers that comprise Naomi. The musicians slowly began writing in the winter of 2011, entering the process without any specific goal or vision. New sonic elements emerged, thanks to Henderson, who has previously played with Fleet Foxes and The Blood Brothers. The group added experimental woodwinds to the tracks, and Naomi marks the first time that The Cave Singers have really had electric bass on their songs.

“It was mostly Derek playing bass with his feet,” Quirk says. “He played these organ pedals. This record is very different but it has bass lines and you [can] tell that it helps.”

By August of last year, The Cave Singers had enough material to record and entered the studio with Ek, known for his work with Fleet Foxes, Built To Spill and Band of Horses. According to Quirk, their partnership with the producer was inevitable. “We know Phil because he lives [in Seattle] and it’s a small town, so he’s a friend of ours,” Quirk explains. “So in passing, whenever I would see him around, he would always say, ‘We should make a record together.’ But this time, it was like maybe we can actually do it. We wanted to make a bigger record. With this batch of songs, in particular, we thought Phil’s expertise would be good.”

The recording process, Quirk says, was particularly challenging, perhaps more so than the band’s prior three albums. There were arguments and panic attacks and over-thinking, but ultimately, The Cave Singers emerged with a lively, emotionally weighty collection of songs that reveals the struggles and triumphs of its makers.

“Cave Singers is learning what recording process suits our music the best,” Quirk says. “What’s a good recorded document that people are going to want to have after they see us play live? So that was another reason to go with Phil. He talked to us about us working together [and how] we could make an exciting record – not a live record but one that captures our live vibe.”

When asked if this album got The Cave Singers any closer to discovering what system actually suits their music best, Quirk pauses to consider. “Yeah, I mean I think we’re getting better as a band,” he says finally. “We can do things quicker. It’s like becoming a person – try this out, try that out – when you’re a new band. It’s good to come into it not fully formed. We’re forming as we go along.” He pauses again, then adds, “It was hard but I think it’s supposed to be hard.”