BROOKLYN blues rock duo She Keeps Bees will back up the September 29 release of their fourth album, Eight Houses, with a six-date autumn tour that comes to The Wardrobe in Leeds on November 16.

Formed by singer/guitarist Jessica Larrabee and drummer/producer Andy LaPlant, She Keeps Bees have self-recorded and issues their three past albums, 2006's Minisink Hotel, 2009's Nests and 2001's Dig On.

The latest has been produced by Nicolas Vernhes, who has worked with Deerhunter, The War On Drugs and Dirty Projectors, and made with a little help from friends, such as Sharon Van Etten and Adam Schatz, creating a haunting record that "revels in the raw power of subtlety, silence and space".

Eight Houses’ sense of controlled chaos on an album ruptured by riffs and rattled by rhythms is gently balanced with lean piano lines, hazy horns and warm organ rolls.

"There was definitely a batch of more aggressive songs that got cut from the new record," says LaPlant. "Having a producer was nice in that respect; if things were starting to sound too similar and we didn't hear it, Nicolas wasn't shy about letting us know. We wanted to step outside our comfort zone stylistically, which really gives Jess's songwriting a chance to shine."

Working with Vernhes has pushed Larrabee’s dense lyrics to the fore, as she explores wide-ranging universal emotions coupled with a search for answers to questions never completely addressed at school.Those question surround the controversial war-hero status that General George Armstrong Custer earned during his "last stand" at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the forced assimilation of Native Americans.

"The reservations left a heartache in me, and swarms of questions." says Larrabee. "I began reading stories. The more I read the history, the more I realised this was a universal story of 'progress': the Western world surrounding indigenous people, taking their natural resources, destroying their sense of self."

Although Eight Houses is primarily a "tumultuous tunnel" of a record, its one shining light is Raven, Larrabee's attempt to reconcile the past and move forward. "Let the power of your truest self rest in your heart," she says. "Draw strength from below your navel, a place where there is no fear. Honour the gravity of the emotion but do not be consumed."

Tickets for November 16 can be booked on stereoboard.com