Following the demise of Georgie James, Laura Burhenn (half of the former DC duo) gathered her favorite books, records, and people around her and wrote what would become the first album from her new band. Recorded in the rugged hills of Oregon in the summer of 2009 with producer Richard Swift at the helm, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood tells the story of loss and recovery, the music nodding to gospel and garage, the lyrics following a Zen trajectory. "I wanted to make a record that felt like Neil Young doing Motown," Laura says, "something simple and strong, old and new at once."