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They have undergone a bit of a change up of late, with star vocalist Lacey Sturn having announced she was leaving the outfit shortly before the release of their third album, “New Horisons” in October 2012.
Sturm was the soaring voice that brought Flyleaf to mainstream success with the powerful singles “All Around Me” off their 2005 debut, which climbed to No.40 in the Billboard Hot 100, “Again” off their second album Memento Mori (2009), and the title track off “New Horizons”, which bassist Pat Seals said describes looking towards an uncertain future with hope. He said it is one of Flyleaf’s best tracks to come out.
Kristen May took the reigns as the new lead vocalist after Sturm’s departure and has ushered the band into a new era.
Their latest album, “Between the Stars” released in September 2014, is testament to their talents as an outfit.
Their current configuration is May on lead vocals and keyboards, Seals on bass and backing vocals, Jared Hartmann on guitar, James Culpepper on drums and Sameer Bhattacharya on guitar, keyboards and piano.
The album was financed through PledgeMusic, a direct to fans crowd funding platform and May said it is the result of the mixed creative energies of herself and the rest band finding difficulties in moving forward after Sturm having left and May’s previous band breaking up. The key theme of the album, like that “New Horisons” preceding it, is triumphing in the face of adversity, of retaining composure in periods of uncertainty and of staying true to one’s faith throughout.
While the transition into the new arrangement with May as the lead vocalist was not spotless – many fans were shocked and had doubts about May being “Christian” enough, due to her efforts to reach out to the broader scene – they have pulled together and put out perhaps their greatest achievement yet and stayed true to the morals for which they are known.
In its first week, “Between the Stars” reached No.33 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is proof that even after the challenge of losing its lead singer, Flyleaf have the strength and endurance to carry on making great music that connects with their fans.
One of the most awesome concerts I have ever attended was Flyleaf opening for Seether in Chicago years ago.
Flyleaf was awesome. Their offering of rock had nothing to do with the fact it was a lead female vocal. The crowd gave as much love to Flyleaf as they did to Seether. The audience was of a very wide range, it seems the listeners of Flyleaf don't discriminate. I loved seeing such a diverse audience. Flyleaf themselves were dressed in pretty standard black concert attire for rock bands.
Lacey, the lead vocal at the time, kept the whole audience enthralled with her voice. Her range from haunting to screaming loudly was amazing to see live.
I've listened to Flyleaf since they started getting airplay back in 2005. I usually don't like female vocals, especially when they're trying to perform rock, but there are a few exceptions and Flyleaf is one of them. She doesn't come across like "a girl trying to sing rock," she owns it. Not only that, but she has the ability to sound completely different from her other rock female counterparts. They have a new vocalist now, Kristen, who has taken the lead vocals and rocks it just as hard. Definitely worth seeing.
Lacey Sturm is an amazing gift from God. God knew what he was doing when he called her for this. During the blackout she didn't disappoint her fans. She stepped into the audience with her husband and did an amazing acoustic performance. It was the calming of the storm. Seeing her performance felt like the spirit of God was in the room. She filled room with the gospel of Christ and shared her story. I love Lacey Sturm because her music is uplifting and every time I feel upset or stressed I would listen to her voice over and over again. Good Bless You Lacey Sturm!!