On the Record
Blue October’s Newest Honors the Album Journey
In this world, there are two kinds of people: those who listen to a whole album start to finish–and those who are about to become converts. Blue October’s newest, Spinning the Truth Around Part I, is bringing back the transportive experience of the old-school album journey with the first of a two-part expansive opus released on October 14th. The double album (Part II is coming out next spring) marks a significant turning point in the band’s decades-long canon. From its opening title track, the album takes us on a sonic interpretation of one of life’s greatest trials—two people growing apart—from the painful start through to its (eventual) “triumphant” outcome. While the chrysalis-to-butterfly/phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes theme is hardly new, Blue October has created a full story expe...
What’s In A Name: Julian Lennon On His New Album Jude
“Calling the album Jude was very much a coming of age tale for me,” Julian Lennon says. The title is directly derived from “Hey Jude,” one of the most beloved rock ‘n roll lullabies of all time. Famously originally titled “Hey Jules,” Paul McCartney wrote the song as a message of comfort and hope for a young Julian when his parents parted ways. “The song was written about a hard time in my life,” Julian explains. “But I have come to terms with it all, including being Jude. [This album] is showing me for who I am today, what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved as an artist, as a writer and a producer…” From his stunning 1984 studio debut Valotte, to his accomplished career as a fine art photographer, what he’s achieved is a legacy all his own, defined by capturing the beauty in his lyri...
Goo Goo Dolls’ Chaos In Bloom
“We had to create our own scene because there wasn’t one in Buffalo at the time that was that welcoming…” Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik tells me, of the early days, long before they became a household name. Goo Goo Dolls began as an unpretentious, late-80s punk band who had a hard time fitting in with the hair-metal music scene that was thriving in Buffalo at the time. Their scene was built through raw DIY work ethic: printing posters, calling college radio stations, renting spaces for shows – shows that attracted misfits and outsiders of similar ilk, all searching for a less-judgmental sanctuary. “We played original music…alternative rock, punk rock, whatever you want to call it,” Rzeznik says, from a stop in Salt Lake City, where they will be playing that night. “There weren’t a lo...
Ann Wilson Is Still the Biggest Badass We Know
Tune into any classic rock radio station, and there is a solid chance that within an hour, you’ll hear one of Heart’s ‘70s-era, melodic, hard-rock hits like “Barracuda,” “Magic Man” or “Crazy on You.” This is why it’s especially exciting that Ann Wilson, Heart’s iconic vocalist and co-writer of those songs has penned original material for her third solo album, Fierce Bliss (released on April 29). Fierce Bliss features seven new songs from Wilson (plus four inventive covers), a significant level up from her two previous albums which only had one original song between them (“Little Problems, Little Lies” on 2007’s Hope & Glory). This return to songwriting started with three originals from Wilson’s 2021 five-song EP, Sawheat 8, one of which, “Black Wing,” is included on Fie...
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ Changeup
A definitive “no way” was Joan Jett’s response when asked if she’d always planned to record an acoustic album. “You had to remember, when I was a young girl wanting to play a guitar, people told me, ‘Girls can’t play electric guitar. Girls can play rock and roll,’” Joan says. “I wanted that electric guitar and I did not want to even see an acoustic guitar. I had no use for it throughout my career.” Joan tells me she was “repelled” by the acoustic guitar, based on the biases surrounding women in music: “I said, ‘You have plenty of girls playing acoustic guitar. You don’t need me. You need more playing electric guitar.’” Enter Changeup (released March 25), Joan’s first-ever all-acoustic album that came about, as she explains, by doing extra tracks for fans. “A couple of years ago, we di...
Johnny Marr’s Fever Dreams Pts 1 – 4
“Your name comes up a lot around here,” I tell Johnny Marr during our virtual visit, me from the U.S., him on the outskirts of his hometown of Manchester, UK. He sits—smiling, warmly—in front of an enviable display of recording equipment, a far cry from the curious kid hanging around future Cult guitarist Billy Duffy’s teenage garage band, the youngster of the group. “I’ve known Billy since 1975,” Marr explains. “He was older…he was very kind because you know teenagers. I was so young. I was probably about 12. Pretty precocious, I guess, or pretty intrepid. I used to just go where the guitars were. He was a kid, 15-years-old himself, but seemed very serious about music. It was great. He still treats me like some little kid, which is sweet, really, at this age.” When I spoke with Duffy last...
Tears for Fears The Tipping Point
Artist: Tears For Fears Album: The Tipping Point Number of tracks: 10 (Additional 3 tracks on the Deluxe CD Edition) Label: Concord Records Release Date: February 25, 2022 In a world filled with chaos and uncertainty, Tears For Fears is here for us.From the beginning, they’ve dedicated their careers to teaching us vital lessons about life and the confluence of humanity: “Everybody wants to rule the world,” “shout (let it all out),” “high time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man,” “keeps a woman in chains…so free her.” And, importantly: When people run in circles it’s a very, veryMad world, mad world. After 17 long years since their last album, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal have shared their latest musical tome, The Tipping Point, one of th...
On the Record: Aimee Mann’s Queens of The Summer Hotel
Artist: Aimee Mann Album: Queens of The Summer Hotel Number of tracks: 15 Label: SuperEgo Records Release Date: November 5, 2021 The sun is shining on Aimee Mann. “It is pretty much all the time,” she remarks from her Los Angeles home, during an East Coast monsoon. Consistently lauded as one of the greatest living songwriters, her new album Queens of The Summer Hotel inarguably perpetuates her reputation for uncompromised artistry. Her process for the new album began three years ago when she began writing songs for a stage adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s book Girl, Interrupted, about Kaysen’s stint in a mental hospital. “A different creature” from the stage adaptation, the title Queens of the Summer Hotel takes inspiration from a poem by Anne Sexton, who, ...
On the Record: Tori Amos’ Ocean to Ocean
Artist: Tori Amos Album: Ocean to Ocean Number of tracks: 10 Label: Decca Records Release Date: October 29, 2021 “You need to write yourself out of this private little hell,” Tori Amos tells me, of her despair during the third UK COVID lockdown, and the message she’d received that led to her newest album Ocean to Ocean. “I think I threw my hands up in the air and said, ‘I don’t know.’ That’s where the songs began to meet me, where they said, ‘Let’s come from you’re feeling despondent, and you feel like you’re in your own private little hell because you do. You need to write from that place.’” As if by magic, Tori consistently manages to spin a thorny yarn into something artful and exquisite. From her signature crimson locks to her star sign, she isn’t a woman who’s merely walked through fi...
On the Record: José González’s Local Valley
Artist: José González Album: Local Valley Number of Tracks: 13 Label: City Slang Release Date: September 17, 2021 From a park in Gothenburg, Sweden, after a day in the sun with longtime partner Hannele Fernström and their two small children, José González took a leisurely evening stroll and spoke with us about Local Valley, his fourth solo album and his first in English, Spanish and Swedish. With Local Valley, his music—defined by artful beats and poetic lyrics—evolves into something lighthearted and wonderful, yet still masterful and epic, sometimes delightfully unexpected. As with all he does, José’s sincerity shines through. “In a way, I’m always trying to write and record music that has a touch of universal themes and melodies, but also try to stand out, try to find something that will...
On the Record: Martha Wainwright’s Love Will Be Reborn
Artist: Martha Wainwright Album: Love Will Be Reborn Number of tracks: 11 Label: Cooking Vinyl Release Date: August 20, 2021 There’s a definite power in sharing personal stories of discovering a new strength through tough times. That’s what Martha Wainwright boldly and beautifully shares with us on her fifth studio album, Love Will Be Reborn, her first since 2016’s Goodnight City. From the initial moments of the title track, we know we’re in for an exquisitely moving and masterful ride, marked by a songwriter whose earned her reputation for uncompromised artistry, and who is clearly reaching a new phase of love and humanness, reflected in her new music. If “Love Will Be Reborn”—written during an especially difficult time, in its entirety, within ten or fifteen minutes—evokes solitude...
On the Record: John R. Miller’s Depreciated
On the Record is a new SPIN feature where we pick an album we think is fantastic, and ask the artist to share the stories behind it. Artist: John R. Miller Album: Depreciated Number of tracks: 11 Label: Rounder Records Release Date: July 16, 2021 Singer-songwriter and guitarist John R. Miller’s debut Depreciated tells the story of a life well-lived. Don’t let the album title fool you. No matter how dark the journey that brought him to Depreciated, the songs are filled with hope and wonder, set against a folks-blues, Nashville countrypolitan and swamp-rock backdrop. Like this interview, his music reflects a refreshingly raw honesty, reflectiveness, and the undeniable beauty in discovery and growth. Musically, Miller is at the top of his game. While Depreciated is perfectly unadorned, it’s d...
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