Love Hate Music Box — the creative vision of RKS band members Melo, guitarists Bozzy Keller and Ethan Goodpaster, and drummer Jess Haney as well as former bassist Charlie Holt — represents a brand-new awakening, and one that fans have already made clear they’ve been eagerly anticipating.

Such evolution is directly reflected in the band’s thrilling new music. While Melo says she was never afraid to plumb the depths of her psyche in music or take RKS’ lyrics to undoubtedly intimate and oft-dark places, “Now there is darkness in the music but there’s also light,” she says with a smile when reflecting on Love Hate Music Box —  an album that traverses fluidly through genre, from pop (lead single “Superstar”)  to indie-rock (the Kacey Musgraves-featuring “Overtime”) to electronic (“Peter Pan”) and even hip-hop (“Lucky”). 

Haney says keeping fans on their toes as to what a RKS song might sound like has always been a thrilling proposition and is only amplified on Love Hate Music Box. It’s something, he says, he feels extremely grateful for. “We’ve been really lucky as a band to explore different sounds,” the drummer says. “It gives us the freedom to explore. We’re lucky to have that kind of grace from the fans. It’s helped us as a band to not be so scared to try something new or to break out of something we’re comfortable with. We’re expanding as a band in a wonderful way.”