You recruited Malcolm Burn (Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, John Mellencamp) to produce the album. What did he bring to help facilitate your creativity?
He brought a huge amount to the table. He has a way – I wouldn’t say he has no patience for things – but, [more like he believes] you just do it. Whether it was getting a take or anything, it was all about the raw emotion rather than the perfection. We didn’t fuss around with things forever. The vocal take, I was singing it the same time that the band was playing. And it was fun working with someone who’s just such a mad scientist, who pushes you in a great way.
There seems to be an underlying theme of impermanence, fleeting love as well as the shortness of life. Was that a theme you consciously wanted to write about or is that something that just came out?
That just came out. I did not consciously mean to do that, and you’re absolutely right that that’s something I tend to focus on. But no, I didn’t mean to do that.
In songs in which the lyrics don’t explicitly convey a sadness or melancholy, your vocal often does.
That’s unintentional, too. Yeah, that’s just there.
Even on songs like “Here To There,” songs that aren’t necessarily sad…
Well, even that song is sad, actually (laughs). It’s about a lover who’s far away and it’s like, you’re here and I’m there or I’m here and you’re there. Who knows what’s gonna happen and how it’s gonna work out?
“Robin in the Snow,” with its imagery and the sentiment – “Who will miss you when you’re gone?” – is quite evocative.
I was sitting in the kitchen, looking outside. It was February, I think, and it was snowing, freezing cold. I saw this bright red robin and it was really beautiful. Then I realized it was going to die…because it was February and cold. How could it possibly survive? So that was the trigger for the song, the idea [of] who will miss you and who will miss me? It’s definitely a question we ask.
How has working with Herbie Hancock affected you?
He always encouraged freedom and freedom of expression. He would say to me, “That’s what I love the most about your singing is that you’re not afraid to experiment and you’re not afraid to fall on your ass, even though you don’t.” That’s the way he plays and that’s what he really loves in other people’s playing: that abandon and trying and not being afraid. To have someone like him tell you that you can do that and you’re good at it is huge and very liberating.
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Well thought out questions that went beyond the norm. They gave the artist a chance to do the same.
Way to go!