Neon Trees, frontman Glenn set to rock The Wiltern

The name Pop Psychology evokes the kind of bright, Warhol-esque images that a band that calls itself Neon Trees might be expected to conjure. And that was partially by design, the band’s frontman Tyler Glenn admitted. But while the term is aesthetically light and vibrant, it also contradicts the album’s more serious theme.

Keeping it real · Since coming out as gay to Rolling Stone a month ago, Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn has felt more in tune with his fanbase. The band’s work on Pop Psychology served as a catharsis for Glenn. - Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

Keeping it real · Since coming out as gay to Rolling Stone a month ago, Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn has felt more in tune with his fanbase. The band’s work on Pop Psychology served as a catharsis for Glenn. – Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

The group’s third album earned its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart and landing its highest debut on the Billboard 200 at No. 6, outranking its previous two efforts.

Pop Psychology is short for popular psychology, Glenn explained. He encountered the term during therapy sessions, whose content influenced and informed much of the album’s material.

“Visually it made me think of really colorful things like Pop Art and it was thematically with the depths of the record,” Glenn said. “I felt it was a title that caps off the whole thing.”

Glenn might seem like a happy-go-lucky ball of surplus energy, but on the inside, the singer who grew up surrounded by the Mormon faith in Utah was actually struggling with his identity — last month, the frontman came out as gay in an article by Rolling Stone.

As has been the case with many public figures in the recent past, Glenn’s brave honesty has been respected and heralded by the general plurality. Some have even lauded him as a role model for individuals who may find it difficult to weigh their religious beliefs against their sexual orientation. It’s a consequence Glenn said he perhaps naively failed to consider, especially as someone who is still trying to figure things out for himself. That’s something he’s always been upfront about.

“I think if anything, what it sounds like people really enjoyed about me coming out and my story and the way I’ve deal with it,” Tyler said. “I’ve done it really honestly and openly and I think people can’t really fault you for that.”

By the same grain it’s hard to fault Neon Trees for the honesty and vulnerability it bears on Pop Psychology. While the band’s third LP is undoubtedly its boldest foray into the deeply emotional and personal, it would be a mistake to overlook its previous serious content, which often gets lost under its infectious melodies.

The band is best known for 2012’s radio anthem “Everybody Talks,” which can be shallowly interpreted as a whimsy romp about false gossip. But Glenn said that the subject of that song is about something serious for him: it stemmed from a rumor about his sexuality. This time, Glenn delves deeper.

“I found myself writing things for this record when I was in a place where I was climbing out of the darkness,” Tyler said. “By the end I was a really happy dude and I feel like the record is kind of a celebration of the things that I hated about myself before.”

The track list questions identity and finding love, particularly in a difficult modern and technological age. Tyler said he drew inspiration from his and his friends’ experiences. They’ve all recently turned 30 and are single, or just got out of relationships. Those love plight stories are translated in songs like “Love In The 21st Century,” “I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends)” and “Text Me In The Morning.”

“I think it speaks to people my age and I think it also speaks to people who are young who are about to go through the same things,” Glenn said.

The song that seems most approachable, “Teenager In Love,” was the most difficult for Glenn to write.

“It sounds like it’s the lightest, most youthful song on the record, but for me it’s the saddest song on the record,” Glenn said. “It’s really about me being in the closet and being in love with someone I’m not allowed to be in love with because I couldn’t tell anyone.”

When Glenn analyzed the situation, he drew similarities between confused teenagers who are teeming with emotions they can’t quite express. Instead, he said, teenagers dissect all the conversations they’ve had with the person they love. It was a situation Glenn found himself in his 20s. The casual listener might miss that subtlety.

“My spin on it, when I hear it, is that it’s really sad and vulnerable,” Glenn said.

Though the album is personal, and is derived from a place of darkness, Glenn describes himself as a happier person, and one that embraces revisiting those memories. It’s a sweet misery, one the listener can certainly bob his or her head along to, should everything underneath get lost in the pop. Glenn wouldn’t mind.

The band will make a stop in Los Angeles during its tour, which has been receiving a more authentic response from fans than on previous tours, Glenn said.

“I don’t know if that’s because we’re at our third record and our fans are more invested, but I think the crowd just feels more connected to the nuances of the songs,” Glenn said. “They know more about me as a songwriter and know where I’m coming from.”

 

Neon Trees plays at The Wiltern on June 12. Tickets can be purchased online through livenation.com.

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