Eurythmic Dave Stewart brengt op 18 september een nieuw album uit.
Stewart nam de tien songs op ‘The Way It Was Back Then’ steeds live in de studio op zonder zelfs nog maar een idee van de teksten te hebben: hij zong wat in hem opkwam, terwijl hij zijn nummers speelde.
Zijn geluidstechnicus Jesse Samler voegde daaraan bas, drums en toetsen toe.
In zijn persbericht omschrijft Stewart het opnameproces als volgt:
‘I wasn’t aware that I was making an album — in-between the various things happening in my life — some I instigated, and some just happenstance. I started to record myself singing songs at the same time as playing guitar. In almost every song, I didn’t write down any lyrics — I just sang the words at the same time as singing the melodies and playing the chords, kind of freeform. Luckily, my engineer and good pal Jesse can play the drums and bass real well, so it’s only the two of us playing everything! The whole album is very spontaneous in its lyrics and music. I have used this method on various solo albums, but usually that was with a programmer or a full band playing, but this time it was a lot more intimate.
There is a lot of looking back, and I suppose everyone goes through this at different times in their life… especially at my age, but this is not looking back in a soft nostalgic way. These songs are about memory, survival, love, loss, damage, loyalty, betrayal, and the strange feeling of still being here after all of it. All of this spewed out, as I said, with no lyrics written down, straight off the top of my head in one take — so I’m not sure how I did it, and as usual, have to work out later what chords I was playing and learn the melodies that I sang at the time. On listening and reading the lyrics now, I realize there are songs about old friends, parents, heartbreak, the streets, courtrooms, and so many ghosts of people and places that never really left me.
At the centre of the album, I suppose there is a deep longing for connection, but there is also the truth that nothing ever works out the way it did back then, hence the title. The past can be beautiful, but it can also be dangerous. A name, a voice, a house, a photograph — any of it can open my heart and break it at the same time.
Some of the songs are very personal and rooted in where I came from. For me, the feeling of this album is bittersweet, cinematic, and human. ‘The Way It Was Back Then’ is not really about trying to go back…it’s about finally facing what was there.’
Inmiddels is ‘Make Me Happy (And Sad)’ uit.
Stewart heeft wel een erg lange en meanderende inleiding nodig om uit te leggen waarover het gaat:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbtudyMJb6R/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=AfZ9LhWLyEd_FPIXMHn0zIi
de tracklist:
The Way It Was Back Then
Your Wishes
Cry If You Want To
The House Where I Was Born
Black Cat
Makes Me Happy (And Sad)
Oh Jesse
All Done
Thin Ice
What’s A Man Supposed To Do
Eerdere weetjes voer Dave Stewart vind je in de rubrieken nieuws en Dossier: Crisis in de platenindustrie.