Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/peaofthesea

Au (pronounced 'Ay-you') is the work of multi-instrumentalist Luke Wyland. AU began while Wyland was finishing up his degree from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, then moved across the US to Portland, Oregon. Currently a full time duo with Dana Valatka on drums (Jackie-O-Motherfucker, Mustaphamond), it is a loosely defined amalgam of players that can swell to double digit numbers with full choir in tow and sees some of Portland's finest lending a helping hand.

Its sound is vast and 'deftly treads a narrow bridge between the loose-associations of the backwoods freak-folk crowd and the more formalized concoctions of art-poppers like Brian Eno.' Since the release of Au's critically acclaimed debut album in 2007, the band has become a road-worn live act, touring incessantly throughout the US and Europe with great bands including Deerhoof, the Dodos, the Parenthetical Girls and WHY?

AU has released two lps (Au and Verbs) and an earlier solo album under the moniker ‘luc’, entitled peaofthesea (Aagoo 2005). AU’s latest EP, Versions, was released as a limited edition of 500 on 10” vinyl in October of 2009 on Aagoo Records. Recorded in Vermont and New Hampshire through the winter of 2008-9, it stands as a document of the duo’s distinctive ability to reinterpret songs from their recorded form and the heightened energy of their live show.

With Dana's virtuosic drumming spawned from a youth playing in heavy metal bands, Luke's ability to multitask on numerous instruments at once, and their 'special one-on-one musical, almost telepathic connection,' it is a snapshot of their sprawling sets that find them deftly navigating between bombastic walls of sound, lilting lyrical numbers, and carnivalesque organ celebrations.