Rachael Yamagata [ tickets ], a New York based singer/songwriter and pianist, got her musical start in the mid-'90s while fronting the Chicago funk-fusion group, Bumpus. When she noticed her writing taking a more introspective turn, she set out on a solo career, releasing her full-length debut, "Happenstance," in 2004 to rave reviews. Finally, after four years of change, including labels and management, the folk-infused pop rocker has released her second effort, an emotional, two-part album entitled "Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart."

Yamagata is currently canvassing the country as part of the Hotel Cafe tour.

Rachael Yamagata [ tickets ], a New York-based singer/songwriter and pianist, is canvassing the nation on the Hotel Cafe tour in support of her long-awaited sophomore effort, "Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart."

LiveDaily contributor Jed McGowan sat down with Yamagata recently to talk about the four-year wait between albums, her songwriting process and much more.

So the big news, of course, is that you have a new album out, "Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart." It's been some time since your last full-length release, about four years. Can you fill us in a little bit on what you've been up to?

Rachael Yamagata: The first two years, we were mostly live touring. That's the excuse. We toured the first record, "Happenstance," quite a bit and went all over. We were pretty busy on that end. In the fall of 2006, I really isolated myself up in Woodstock, NY, and started writing for the next one. I started taking all the bits I'd been writing on tour and compiling them into songs, and then demoed and wrote and just did all of that for about nine months. I got about 160 songs, or something nutty like that. Then I started the whole recording process in spring of 2006, settled up with it around fall of 2006 and then the typical "business side-[meets]-creative side" fiasco started. I made management changes, label changes, team work shifted--all of those things happened, and every time something like that happens, it's, like, a four-month period, at least, of readjustment in some way. So it wasn't intentional, but it was a lengthy process to finally get this record set up again. We found a new home with Warner Bros., which has been fantastic, so it's one of those things where you couldn't have seen the good of anything that was happening at the time, but now it's feeling like it's very much coming together, so it's very exciting.

It must feel great to have some new material coming out.

It does! Finally!

You recently released a new EP, though, titled "Loose Ends." What was the impetus for releasing that?

In the studio, we recorded 25 songs, something like that, and I worked primarily with Mike Mogus from Bright Eyes and also worked a lot with John Alagia who did "Happenstance," the first record. These were songs that weren't quite right for "Elephants ...," but they were ones that I'd played live, that fans had requested. I was really pleased with the versions that we got, but they didn't quite fit into the full body of work that we were presenting on this record--the mood, the sonics, they were older songs ... things like that. I still wanted to get them out there, though, hence the name "Loose Ends." I was tying up the loose ends of things before this next record comes out. The three of them worked very nicely together. "The L Word" show premiered "The Other Side," which was one of the songs, so it was a nice excuse to make it. People were asking about it and there were two other piano-based songs that [are] a nice transition to this next record, so there you go.

How do you feel you've grown as a musician since recording "Happenstance?"

I've definitely taken a much deeper interest in the production side of things, especially with these songs for this new record. I had a lot of fun demoing everything on them and sketching out random ideas, whether it was drums or bass or French horn--whatever it was. I think I came to the table of the production side with more ideas than before, which was great and crazy at the same time. Mogus and I had a nice give-and-take with things.

Also, I got this affinity for the guitar. I really love writing off it and I had done so for the first record but we didn't showcase those songs as much and I [used] a lot of piano. This time around, we definitely included more guitar songs, some of which are real rock songs, real gritty, heavy-handed, passionate, fun-to-play-live rock songs. That's certainly a difference on this record, more on the "Teeth Sinking Into Heart" side. Poetically, I think my lyrics became more poetic, just as time has gone by. I went dark. That's how I've grown!

You mentioned that the album is split into two parts, "Elephants" and "Teeth Sinking Into Heart." Was this something you'd envisioned from the get-go or did it just sort of take that shape as you worked on it?

It kind of took the shape throughout. There was a point in the recording process where we thought we might ought to split them up because the "Elephants" side is the vulnerable, lush ballads with more resonances, I suppose, to the first record, but even a darker version with songs about relationships and those transitions. The second half, what became "Teeth Sinking Into Heart," was almost the evolution of having gone through a complicated relationship and then you've been flattened. You lose your sense of balance and then you're reclaiming it with this sassy backbone. Those songs are really drive-with-your-window-down, anthemic reactions to what you've been through and reclaiming your power. I didn't want to dilute either side by trying to force a different vibe into that because the moods are very clear when you're listening.

"Elephants" almost reads like a film score to me. The transitions were really important to me and they tell a story. The "Teeth" side is really ... we went for it when we were doing kind of gruff rock, harsh sounds--like, we've got Pulp Fiction surf guitars in there and stomps and claps and guitars going through harmonica mics. We really went for this edgy thing that served the lyric, and it stands alone, so I wanted to make sure two vibes were presented in complete packages and you could take whatever mood you're in and choose the one that you're into.

Is either part of this album closer to where you see yourself going in the future?

No, I'm going to do spoken word over hip-hop beats. That's definitely my next record. You know, I can’t say. People have asked me that before and I feel like a merging of the two is definitely where my heart is at right now, because there's something about playing live. I love the dynamics of live performance, when you can have some sort of anthem and crazy guitars and huge, passionate energy play off the audience and really rock out. I love that. There's such a special energy to that, and yet, the dark ballads are so close to my heart. I need to write those and that can hush a room in such a different way. I think people have a broad ability to not need to say, "This is this or this is that." Those emotions are all emotions that we have; they're just songs that play into the different ones. I envision myself as still kind of a mixture of those two things. It's still me, it's just a different musical template. But who knows? The next record, maybe it will be spoken word.

Do you have any particular favorite tracks on the album?

I love "Elephants" because of the way it sort of came to me. It really was one of those magical, channeled songs that I almost feel like I had nothing to do with. I just wrote it while I was running down a mountain in Woodstock. I had been going through certain relationship issues in my life and was very inspired by nature and the woods. I had this overwhelming appreciation for just being alive and yet I was so saddened by this other thing. These lyrics merged out of nowhere and worked to really set up the first half of the record and be the first track.

I wrote it a capella, so it took me six months to figure out what kind of music would suit those words and I had to keep repeating the lyrics to myself as I ran so I wouldn't forget them, because I was at the bottom of the mountain. It was a really randomly written song, which makes me love it in this way, because, when I go back and look at the lyrics, I think, "Wow. That says, like, eight things that I didn't even know I was saying." So I have to say that's definitely one of my favorites. "Sunday Afternoon" I think is a favorite, just because it's a bit epic and I just love the trance-like quality of it.

Do you have a typical songwriting process?

No, but I do write a lot in the middle of the night. I wake up around 4 a.m. and write everything at the same time--usually lyrics, melody, the music--then edit later if I do any editing. There's no real process that I can put my finger on. I think you have conversations with people and, every now and the,n somebody says a perfect line that you have to write down because you know someday you're going to want to use it. That happened with "Horizon" actually—the last track on the first side. So you snag those and you remember them for some reason at 4 a.m. I'm a late-night writer, I guess.

The other big news is that you have a tour kicking off in mid-September. Are you excited to play these new songs for audiences?

I am and I'm terrified. I'm very excited. I'm all of those things. I've been off the road for a bit, so it's exhilarating and you have those jitters, but I actually love touring. I'm one of those people who loves to travel. I'm such a hermit in my private life--I can go days without talking to anybody--but it's almost this giant release to be at a show. I always say more than I ever wish to say into the microphone and people just respond to a good mood or honesty or humor and it's always nice to see how they react to the new songs. Once we get the band up and running, it should be a lot of fun. Touring is really like summer camp, they always say, and it really is. I always have to take a long nap right before it starts because once you're on, you're on! It's great.

Are there any cities or venues on the schedule that you're looking forward to?

Of course, revisiting Chicago, which is where my whole music career started out. Los Angeles has become a bit of a home as well, just with my frequenting my Hotel Cafe world. I've really found a lot of friends here and a lot of musicians I love. New York--I've almost lived there for so many years, and now I'm in Philly, so those almost feel like hometowns, as well. It's finally to the point where I have a good amount of friends that you get to call up, other musicians on the road in those different cities. I'm psyched for the whole thing, I have to say.