It's always tricky when a band carries one with a replacement singer, as you can never quite tell if an audience will be accepting of the change. But if judging by how fond Flyleaf bassist Pat Seals is of the singing talents of the band's new front woman, Kristen May (who replaced original vocalist Lacey Sturm), then the band will have no problem moving forward.

September 16th will see the group's fourth studio album overall (and first with May behind the mic), titled Between The Stars. Issued via Loud & Proud Records, the album is also the group's first to not utilize the production talents of Howard Benson, but rather, Don Gilmore. Seals recently chatted with BraveWords correspondent Greg Prato about Between The Stars, the group's singers past and present, and future plans.

BraveWords: Let's start off by discussing the new album, Between The Stars.

Pat Seals: "Between The Stars has a different story than any other Flyleaf album. We did with Don Gilmore, which is a departure from the Howard Benson saga of the previous three. And the bulk of the recording was done in Jordan McGraw's house, and he's the guitar player from a band called Stars in Stereo, which we toured with before, and graciously let us use his stereo in LA. It is definitely different from the other three, but it's still Flyleaf."

BraveWords: As far as Lacey leaving, did that come as a surprise, or did you see that coming?

Pat Seals: "We saw it coming. We didn't make our fans alert of it immediately, but we took our time as to how we brought it to the public. But yeah, we kind of saw it coming."

BraveWords: And how did the band first come in contact with Kristen?

Pat Seals: "Our manager actually received a tip from somebody she knew about Vedera, and how they recently had stopped. So she just put us in touch, and when Kristen May came down for the first audition, by the second song, we were all looking at each other, nodding - 'This is it!'"

BraveWords: How would you compare the singing style of Kristen to Lacey?

Pat Seals: "Kristen May is definitely all about technique, though she has marvelous feeling. It's just like a very immaculate, precise type thing. Lacey is more about feeling. They're apples and oranges, kind of."

BraveWords: What is your favorite track off Between The Stars?

Pat Seals: "Between The Stars has a lot of great tracks, my favorite is 'Platonic,' probably. It's one that Sameer [Bhattacharya], our guitarist actually wrote and brought it in at the tail end of the last day of the session. The last day we were doing drums, he's like, 'Oh, wait until you hear this one,' and it wound up blowing everybody away. So 'Platonic' is the sleeper hit on Between The Stars."

BraveWords: And what about the album's leadoff single, 'Set Me on Fire'?

Pat Seals: "'Set Me on Fire' is a very interesting track for Flyleaf. It's got this repetitive, kind of droning bass line in the beginning, and has sort of a feel like Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer,' in the drone. But it's also new for Flyleaf - a new feel - but I like it."

BraveWords: Are you comfortable with people calling Flyleaf a heavy metal band?

Pat Seals: "If they want to. Perception is reality, but I don't really see us that way. I enjoy metal and we play metal events at certain times. We'll get pretty intense if we need to." [Laughs]

BraveWords: How do you think Flyleaf blends in with the current metal and hard rock scene?

Pat Seals: "I think we blend in, because we're still playing our instruments! In some ways, if you look at music as a whole, it's largely getting enveloped by technology. It's really us playing."

BraveWords: What are the touring plans for the album?

Pat Seals: "We are going to take Between The Stars on the road in early October, starting in Waco and Lubbock - close to home."

BraveWords: How long do you see the band touring for in support of the album?

Pat Seals: "Hopefully a while - I'll imagine we'll be busy for the rest of this year, hopefully going into 2015."

BraveWords: What about as far as future plans for the band beyond this album and tour?

Pat Seals: "I would like to keep creating more albums. I think writing this album and having it come out, I feel like a stronger band, and I'd like to see what we create in the future."

BraveWords: How many shows has the band played so far with Kristen?

Pat Seals: "Hmm…it's hard to put it in an exact number, but it's getting close to 100, I believe. Somewhere around there - 50 or 60, maybe."

BraveWords: Was there a specific show where everything clicked and you realized that the new line-up was going to work?

Pat Seals: "It's hard to put a specific moment, but on the first tour with her last spring, we played the House of Blues in Chicago, and it was just an epic show. Everyone in the crowd seemed to enjoy it, and everyone backstage afterwards was so complimentary. I just kind of felt this glow, knowing, 'Wow, we're a band again.'"

BraveWords: What can fans expect from the upcoming tour?

Pat Seals: "Fans can expect to hear Between The Stars, they can expect to see some intense performing, and we will have a band called Lull Water with us, and also our old friend, Ryan White, is going to open the show acoustic."