Beyond Ballads
Singer/songwriter steps outside her comfort zone
Just because Jann Arden has introduced a little twang into her music and also served as co-host for the recent Canadian Country Music Association Awards, don’t think that she’s turned her back on her pop roots.
Country music isn’t really much of a stretch for the singer, who just kicked off a four-week, 18-city tour of Canada which includes a stop at Regina’s Conexus Arts Centre on Friday. Her 12th and latest effort, Everything Almost, features more than a few twangy stylings, such as Karolina — which she recorded with Autumn Hill — Comin’ Round For Us, and You Forgot You Loved Me, co-written by one of her regular collaborators, Kristyn Osborn of the Nashville trio SHeDAISY.
Not that Arden’s completely gone country. Her album, produced by Bob Rock, might actually be her most diverse, dabbling in orchestral roots (Counting Mercies), piano weepers (You Were Never Broken), acoustic rock (Hard To Be Alive), and even dance beats (You Love Me Back).
“I wrote it as a really slow ballad on an old piano in my house. I told (Bob) I just love ABBA. He turned (the song) into more of an homage to the ’80s,” explained Arden.
Arden credits Rock for pushing her as a songwriter on Everything Almost, their second album together. (He also produced 2011’s Uncover Me 2.) He made her write more tunes because he didn’t think her material was strong enough — and then challenged her as a vocalist in the studio.
“He’d change keys and have me hold notes and sing higher. I do tend to be lazy. Just because I can sing that high doesn’t mean I want to,” said Arden. “I always get annoyed when I’m listening to something and I think: ‘Why are you singing way up there? Can’t you just bring it down a notch?’ So I try to find a very comfortable place. I think the way Bob records me and the microphones he uses makes a big difference. He was just great. This is a guy who sent me back to the drawing board to write more.
“Last year, he told me, ‘I don’t think you’re ready,’ and I was devastated. I had all these songs and he said ‘No, I think you need four or five great songs.’ I felt a little pressure at first, but then I thought I had to shake it off and be able take constructive criticism. He’s good for me in so many ways. He really wanted me to step outside my own comfort level.”
At 52, Arden seems to be using the same approach outside the studio, exploring different opportunities such as CCMA host, Tim Hortons doughnut judge — “There is no such thing as a bad-tasting doughnut” — and radio rabblerouser. You might remember her ardent opposition to a Calgary radio station’s controversial format, QuickHitz, whereby songs were shortened so they could play twice as many of them.
Arden thought the edits were “massacring” artists’ work and tweeted her views in early August. Less than two weeks later, after the possibility of potential lawsuits from musicians and record labels, the station decided to ditch the format. Quick, indeed.
“I knew it was going to come to this, but I knew I needed to be vocal about it,” she said. “Radio is such an important part of our industry and (stations) have been exceptionally generous to me over the years. But I had my day at radio, and I knew it would easier for me to stick my neck out than someone who just signed a record deal and thinks, ‘I better not say anything or they’re going to ban me.’
“I don’t regret going about it. I probably hurled some low shots and I think my humour is sometimes misconstrued as being aggressive and ill-tempered. I took a lot of flak for it ... it’s not for the faint-of-heart when you stand up for something. At the end of the day, I think I had a lot of support, but I don’t feel like I won anything. I’m glad they reconsidered. I’m glad it didn’t work and I’m glad that people don’t want to consume music that way.”