Fenced in a city flocking with a growing indie music scene, Baltimore natives Eureka Birds dare to ascend the musical trends and create music guided by crystalline melodies and inventive arrangements. Where ethereal dream pop or experimental punk and electronic music dominate the scene, Eureka Birds play kaleidoscopic pop songs with discernible lyrics, and do so without the aid of frills or tricks.

Eureka Birds was set in motion with Justin Levy’s early forays into songwriting at the University of Maryland at College Park where he was introduced to ace guitarist Dave Rogoza in 2004. After catching the attention of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s bassist Tyler Watkins, they recorded their first self-titled album in 2008. They then connected with the group’s missing links, bassist Scott Hesel and drummer Dan Vellucci, in 2011, solidifying the current lineup.

Initially a band of strangers in a city where their music went against the fray, the Eureka Birds found the alien nature of their surroundings to be a fleeting fit. The result on their upcoming album, Strangers, is a band who jumps deftly from genre to genre from the calypso of “Justin, It’s Over” to the fuzz rock of “Baby’s Got A Blade” to piano ballads like “Not Coming Home.” On the album, Levy chronicles the breakup of his girlfriend of seven years with a self-deprecating stance. It’s a record featuring soaring vocals veiling the trials of heartbreak over the effortlessly winding Caribbean Rumbas, afro-pop grooves, psychedelic guitar jams, new wave synths, 1960s soul music, and piano power ballads. “Mila Don’t Make a Sound,” the lead single off Strangers, is a celestial anthem highlighting Levy’s heartfelt lyrics. Levy says, “This song is about infidelities and how they’ll haunt you like ghosts in your house. The couple knows that the ghosts are all around them but both are careful not to recognize them.”