I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. In the world of music, there are few words that are as scary as "concept" and "album." It's a very risky game, and there are a few terrible records floating around the void as a result of artists getting over-ambitious.

In the '90s, concept albums were almost exclusively the domain of hip-hop artists like Ginuwine, Usher and Lauryn Hill - albums littered with "interludes" and skits became something of a norm, with even Eminem inserting contextual tracks in between the songs on his record in order to sell a particular theme and establish a particular atmosphere.

Realistically, the execution of a concept album can be a nightmare of a challenge; producing and releasing one is a huge undertaking, and as you'll know if you've ever gone to great lengths for a personal project, it's very difficult to translate the plan and scope you have in your head to a viable, measurable product you can hold in your hands and play through your headphones.

Which brings us to The Dear Hunter.

Casey Crescenzo was a key figure in The Receiving End Of Sirens, a post-hardcore band out of Boston that stood out from the rest for their three-frontman situation; Crescenzo — along with bassist Brendan Brown and guitarist Alex Bars — shared three-tiered vocals over their rich, layered rock music. This dynamic got them touring positions with Senses Fail, 30 Seconds To Mars, A Wilhelm Scream and other giants of the scene.

Crescenzo was always pulled in other creative directions, though, and wrote a record's worth of songs far out of the scope of what the band was doing, songs united in their following an interesting narrative. This came very shortly before the band let him go early in 2006, providing Crescenzo the opportunity to explore the new direction.

Crescenzo wrote the narrative into an elaborate story of a young man — known only as The Dear Hunter — in a baroque world, born to a prostitute that passes away while he's very young. Crescenzo expanded the scope of the narrative to take place over six albums, and set to work on recording the first album, ACT I: The Lake South, The River North helped only by his drummer brother, organist father and singer mother.

Released in September 2006, ACT I set the tone for the many records to follow with an extremely diverse spectrum of music; beginning with the brash a cappella track Battesimo Del Fuoco and continuing through the lush instrumental The Lake South before arriving at City Escape, a track best described as The Mars Volta meeting an orchestra. And the record continues as unexpectedly as it began, brilliant and weird.

Over the following years, Crescenzo welcomed a wide array of contemporary rock musicians as he composed and shaped the story up through ACT III: Life and Death, released in summer of 2009. And though their fans have been rabid for more music, waiting for any information at all on ACT IV, The Dear Hunter as a group have laid their concept project aside to take on a different one — a series of nine EPs based on the colour spectrum and categorized only by their feeling.

A separate, blog-style website exists for this colour spectrum project (tdhcolors.com), on which the band upload photos, video clips, and song information as they progress through the composition and recording of this ambitious musical project. It's exciting to watch things take shape, but having to be patient for two different projects from the same great band? It's torture.

The good news? If you start listening now, you'll wait less time for new music than I have. Crescenzo is a genius of a modern American composer, ambitious and delightfully prolific — check it out at or on Twitter @therealTDH.

And while you're on Twitter, you should know that two weeks ago I started an account as an extension of this column, a way for me to constantly share the latest in music news, views and downloads: @FSU_Bobbyisms. I'm out of words.