New York's U-Melt performs Oct. 9 at the Fox, opening for Particle.

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When New York-based progressive rock band U-Melt came through Boulder in January, the group was a stranger in Colorado. But by the end of that seven-day run, the band -- which incorporates elements of jazz, funk and electronica into an improvisational rock groove -- had ingratiated itself with Colorado's jam band fanatics.

U-Melt returns to the Centennial State for a three-night run, beginning with an Oct. 9 supporting gig with Particle featuring Michael Kang at the Fox Theatre. The band co-headlines with the Breakfast at Dulcinea's 100th Monkey and Owsley's Golden Road in Denver on Oct. 10 and 11.

U-Melt will perform tracks from its 2006 release, The I's Mind, and its forthcoming record, an ambitious and as-yet-untitled concept album the band has been recording for a year. During a recent phone interview, Zac Lasher, the group's keyboardist, weighed in on the band's sound, its Colorado reception and the lofty vision for its next record.

Camera: You came through Colorado for the first time in January of this year. You did a seven-night run that time. How did it go?

Zac Lasher: It was a very good time. We were treated very well. I was surprised by the amount of people that already knew us out there.

Camera: A lot of people have described you as a jam band, but that term is kind of vague. How would you describe your music?

ZL: I think of it as more progressive rock. As you said, the jam band term is vague. I wouldn't say it's inaccurate, but it's not telling the whole story. I would say we're a psychedelic progressive rock band. There are elements of jazz, a lot of elements of dance and electronic and a lot of classical forms. That's what rock is, a great amalgamation of these other forms of music.

Camera: Do you have a new album in the works?

ZL: I'm actually in the studio working on it right now ... We've been working on this record since the beginning of the year. It's a large album. There are a lot of songs on it. It's very composed and very arranged on a lot of tracks. We're banging our way through it and being pretty meticulous about it to make sure it sounds how we want it to sound.

It's a largely conceptual piece. It's based upon an idea that our guitar player Rob and I started writing a couple years ago. We got into a very philosophical place with our writing. The album is about the search for enlightenment and the quest for some spiritual enlightenment and truth.

Camera: That's lofty subject matter to convey musically.

ZL: Yeah, we're not writing about getting dumped. We're all very much about the belief that if you're going to be singing something, you should be singing something. There are a lot of bands that exist on nonsensical gimmicks, and that doesn't jive with me.

Camera: Any guess as to when it will be released?

ZL: Sometime next year. We have to finish the thing first.

Camera: Are you debuting this material in the live setting?

ZL: Yes. None of the songs are new to our live repertoire. We're taking advantage of being in the studio and being able to make the songs something that they aren't when we play them live.

Camera: What are your plans for 2009?

ZL: More of the same, I imagine. I expect we'll have this album finished. We'll take a little time off, and then we're going to start working on the next album, because that's pretty much written already. But we're going to put a time constraint on that one.

Contact Camera Music Writer Vince Darcangelo at vdarcangelo@yahoo.com.