RYAN ADAMS
New album Prisoner arrives on February 3. But what have AC/DC, “bummers” and mystery rock flicks got to do with it?
“I IMAGINE I’M IN EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS.”
“This is like the most depressing prom of all time,” declared Ryan Adams, to much laughter, live at Capitol Records’ Studio A in the heart of Hollywood. From a décor standpoint, it was not a bad call: the room was darkened, a small, invite-only audience clutched drinks and watched, open-eyed and curious, while leftover decorations from the label’s 75th Anniversary Bash, held earlier that mid-November week, were still in plain sight. Adams was perched atop a small stage with his new outfit – a five-piece dubbed The Incredible Band, at least for that night – offering a live preview of his imminent album Prisoner. Adams and crew performed nearly all of the new LP’s songs live for a select crowd, holding back only two because, he said, “those songs were too much of a bummer.” Which is not to say that the remainder of Prisoner is a comedy record. Adams’ new songs are bouncy, melodic, and mostly musically upbeat – he’d told the press it was his ’80s record, and names like AC/DC and Bachman-Turner Overdrive had popped up – but, as always, Adams’ lyrics dominate the narrative, and they’re often serious going. Especially now. Prisoner follows his recent high-concept cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album and is his first collection of original material since his split with wife Mandy Moore. And that appears to show in a significant amount of the material. There was Haunted House, with its repeated refrain of “I don’t want to live in this haunted house any more.” There was To Be Without You, with its closing passage, “And then I see the empty space beside me and remember/I feel empty/I feel tired/I feel worn/ Nothing really matters any more.” Much of the new material – like Tightrope and the show’s opener Do You Still Love Me – carries with it a fascinating blend of emotional rawness and hurt counterbalanced by upbeat, rocking music beds. Alt country? Not so much. On-stage, Adams tends to make fun of himself – even here, unveiling new songs to an industry audience, he couldn’t resist poking a hole in it all. “When I’m playing that song, I imagine I’m in [cult 1983 rock movie] Eddie And The Cruisers,” he said after Tightrope. “That whole movie is like an advertisement for itself. This is not the right time to talk about this, but you should watch that movie.” Adams has said he wrote over 80 songs to prepare for this album. He credits producer and label exec Don Was for helping steer the project to its completion, and Was introduced the singer on-stage at this studio set, calling him his favourite artist; Adams joked mid-performance about calling Was’s private line and leaving bad Frank Sinatra karaoke phone messages. Whatever their interaction, on the basis of the songs previewed on the studio stage – and that’s all of them but two – Prisoner looks to be primer than usual Ryan Adams.