MANDY
BARNETT RETURNS WITH STRANGE CONVERSATION,
COMING
FROM THIRTY TIGERS SEPTEMBER 21
Singer’s first new album in five years was produced by Marco Giovino and Doug Lancio
in Muscle Shoals,
features duet with John Hiatt.
Rolling
Stone Country premiered a track: Here
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mandy
Barnett laughs when she’s asked “What
took you so long?” to make Strange Conversation, her
progressive take on the postmodern American songbook. Sure, she’s a classicist
who’s channeled Patsy Cline in a theatrical musical, recorded
classic country songs with legendary producer Owen Bradley, and
transfixed known musicos Seymour Stein, Arif Mardin and Ahmet
Ertegun with her timeless stylings. But Barnett, who signed her first
major label deal at age 12, decided she needed a change.
“I needed to cleanse my palette,” explains the woman with a voice
that’s all sultry velour. “I’m a torch singer, somebody who can do a little bit
of everything. Pop, blues, gospel, country, soul — songs with emotion are what
I do.” And so, she had to decide what to do next. While musical soul-searching,
Barnett honed her symphony show (performing with the Nashville Symphony
Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Ulster Orchestra in
Belfast) and even reached back to an old passion — visual art — to get her
creative juices flowing in a fresh direction. In between touring performing art
centers, historic theaters and concert halls, and making gallery-exhibited
artwork, Barnett embraced thoughts of finding different material to
record.
She pauses for a moment, weighing the jolt to longtime fans versus
the reality of her new music. “But honestly, it’s all me,” says
Barnett. “It’s all aspects of who I am.” Because for
Barnett, a singer who’s captivated Owen Bradley, the idea of
her musical future is as compelling as the idea of honoring classic country’s
past.
“The truth is every album I’ve made has been Americana, even that
first Asylum album with the Jim Lauderdale songs, but the arrangements were
more timeless, more to the classic songbook. And Americana’s a broad genre that
has elements of pop and retro, soul music. So this time, I leaned away from
what people expect from me — and into things that made me reach, and stretch. “
Produced by Marco Giovino and Doug
Lancio for Thirty Tigers and Barnett’s own
label Dame Productions, and due out September 21, 2018, Strange
Conversation places the vocalist between obscure vintage
pop and modern progressive songwriting. Think Lee Hazlewood and the
Tams meet Tom Waits and Greg Garing with
a little Mable John thrown in. If it sounds too good to be
true, Hazlewood’s “The Fool,” the Tams’ “It’s All Right (You’re Just in Love),”
Waits’ “”Puttin’ on the Dog” and Garing’s “Dream Too Real to Hold” are all part
of the conversation, a musky brew of desire, rapture, and discovery.
From the opening slink and slither of Mabel John’s “More Lovin’,”
with its subdued track and smoky vocal, to the Farfisa gypsy carnival whirl of
“All Night,” darkly seductive and slightly churning, this is a more mysterious
Barnett. Even the slightly steamy horns rising on the Ted Hawkins-penned title
track bring a true erotic simmer to a boil.
“We went to Muscle Shoals to make the record,”
Barnett says. “Which was a big thing, because that environment, all the music
that happened there, just seeps in. I was working with all new players, and we
were going deeper into some things I’ve always touched on, but never really
explored.”
It all started the way the best music-nerd friendships do: trading
songs like baseball cards. “Marco sent me hundreds of songs, vintage CDs,
tapes, and I poured through all of them. It was listening and listening, and
drinking in all this amazing roots music. Some of the songs are pretty
obscure, but that’s why I wanted someone else’s perspective.
“The idea of singing the Tom Waits song, that’s so far out the box for me. I had a ball cutting it. It’s wild, and a little sloppy and erratic. So I could sing with reckless abandon and put my soul into it.”
“The idea of singing the Tom Waits song, that’s so far out the box for me. I had a ball cutting it. It’s wild, and a little sloppy and erratic. So I could sing with reckless abandon and put my soul into it.”
Barnett laughs again. In a world where people know she’s a
world-class vocalist, Strange Conversation opened new
avenues for her gifts — whether it was Neil Sedaka’s “My World Keeps Slipping
Away,” which was pitched directly to her by the songwriting legend himself, or
the McCrary Sisters-embellished version of Andre Williams’
“Put a Chain On It,” which offers a soul-gospel turn on the blues that’s part
barrelhouse, part grindhouse, and part church house.
Equally intriguing is the carny Western take on Sonny
& Cher’s “A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done,” with the gravel-voiced John
Hiatt. The quaver in Barnett’s voice moves from wide-open to resigned;
Hiatt is tall in the saddle, equally wry and knowing.
“Marco brought that song in, and it was a natural fit to have John
Hiatt on it,” says Barnett. “I’d always loved John. Back when I was signed
to Jimmy Bowen, they were bringing me all these songs about quilts
and grandmas, and I was like, ‘Please.’ I went over to Bug Music, and found
John’s music, and was just so thrilled by the soul and the funkiness.
“This isn’t one of his own songs, but it’s so much what he does. And it’s a wacky arrangement, which John just got right into the spirit of. Talk about a moment!”
“This isn’t one of his own songs, but it’s so much what he does. And it’s a wacky arrangement, which John just got right into the spirit of. Talk about a moment!”
Pausing briefly, Barnett smiles. “Doug Lancio has
produced John, Patty Griffin, and some of those great Gretchen
Peters records; he understands music that blurs the lines but works
because of the soul. That’s what I wanted, what I was ready
for.” Add Doug’s incredible guitar parts and Marco’s unique drumming
to the mix, along with the contributions of other great musicians, and Strange
Conversation takes shape as a blend of imaginative arrangements and
Barnett’s inimitable vocals.
“I’ve come to a place were I didn’t want to be as polished and as
lush as before. I’ve always felt like a rebel, because I never did all the
flavor-of-the-month stuff, but you can get stuck in that, too.
“This time, I discovered facets about me I didn’t know. I heard
shadings, nuances to bring out. I can still belt, but you know, you don’t have
to hit a high C every time.”
Indeed, it’s in the lower ranges that Barnett’s most sultry notes
seem to exist. But that’s another conversation, one that’s seemingly just getting
started.
Track Listing
“More Lovin'”
“It’s All Right (You’re
Just in Love)”
“Dream Too Real to Hold”
“Strange Conversation”
“A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done” (featuring John Hiatt)
“Puttin’ on the Dog”
“All Night”
“My World Keeps Slipping Away”
“The Fool”
“Put a Chain on It”
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