And the band members want it that way.

“I guess for us it was kind of step forward in terms of our writing,” bassist Gavin Paterniti said. “In my opinion, it’s a little bit more of a cohesive record than the previous album in the sense that the songs kind of follow a more central theme.”

In May, the band released “Colors and Lights.”

“They (the songs) kind of fit more. You can put them in one specific genre as opposed to the other album where we kind of dabbled in different areas and threw it all together in one record.”

According to guitarist Adam Gould, the focus before was funk, reggae, and rock music. Those genres are on the new release as well, but the band has moved into the progressive rock genre. It’s a big switch.

“I feel we have changed our designation with time just with the more we put out,” Paterniti said. “We never really set out to be one specific thing. It’s just kind of what we write. This one (“Colors and Lights”) is kind of like progressive space rock. I think it was a natural progression.”

Gould, who writes the majority of the material, said he usually composes a song on his computer using Ableton Live software. He writes maybe a few versions of the song, then records the song, and then he uses Facebook Messenger to send it to the rest of the members. “It’s usually the first they see of any of it,” Gould said.

The guitarist added that a lot of the song structures start as kind of just basic ideas he has for melodies or beats. “A lot of times it’s a melody I’ve had knocking around in my head. And then I just have to figure out how to get it out and lay a harmony down behind it,” Gould said. “I have written most of the lyrics. Gavin has contributed some (of the lyrics).”

The band recorded most of the album at Tone Hill Studios in Kiantone with engineer Ben Juul. Gould said the band members produced three tracks at their rehearsal space, and sent the files to Juul, so he could prepare them for the album.

In the midst of recording the new album, former member Drew Minton announced he was leaving the band. Because the band was starting to tour more, Minton’s schedule would not allow him to continue with the project. “That’s something, even when we started the band, we all were kind of aware that if it got to the point where we were going to be playing out a lot, especially on the road, his schedule was not quite conducive to going on tour,” Paterniti said. “He is a teacher. He has a family, and he is rooted where he is at right now. We definitely don’t want to underplay his contributions to the band in anyway. He did let us know after we had started recording.”

Enter guitarist Jeremy Bunce.

Bunce, in the interim, began recording with the band, and soon became a full-time member. Marc Scapelitte continues to play drums while Minton played keyboards and saxophone.

“We had been playing those songs live before Drew announced that he was leaving. It was a much more seamless transition than we thought it would be,” Gould said of the new material.

Minton is always welcome back to play. “Whenever we play locally, and he is around, we would love to get back together with him and just have him get up there (on the stage) and play some of his old sax solos. Adam and Jeremey have taken over the keyboard duties and it’s worked out really well,” Paterniti said.

Although Cold Lazarus has a big local following, the band has been branching out past Western New York, but Paterniti admits the band may have a bigger online presence.

“There is buzz going around,” he said.

“It’s been a slow, steady gain. I think as long as we’re on the up in that regard,” Gould added.

For more information view facebook.com/coldlazarus or coldlazarus.bandcamp/album/colors-and-lights.