|
contents | world | |||||||||||||
| Chris Still's second album by conqueroo  The roundabout journey of Chris Still's self-titled second album started in France where the President of V2 Records signed the artist in 2005. Soon thereafter, the CD was released all across Europe and Canada, and with buzz mounting on the European continent (the Irish Times called it "sparkly, summery unkempt music"), Stills was looking forward to the U.S. release earlier this year, but suddenly, V2 shuttered its doors in America. Street date for the new album on the JKC Records label is January 29, 2008.Stubbornly the determined Stills couldn't and wouldn't, let this album die. The songs were much too close to his heart to get lost in yet another record label implosion. "These songs grew out of an intensely important time for me just before I was resigned to V2, " Stills says. "I was about to throw in the towel on my musical career. I'd just spent the last few years shopping for a new deal and no matter how good I felt about those few hundred shows — and no matter how grateful I was for all the love and support — it didn't seem like it was ever enough to get me where I needed to go." But then Chris, rediscovering his muse Heidi, saw his life changing for the better. "I remember sitting on the couch, so happy to be with her again. I said, 'You're going to bring me luck.' Literally in the next breath, the phone rang and it was my manager saying, "We're going to Paris!" It makes sense that the resulting album, eponymously titled Chris Stills is a richly romantic affair, conveying both the ache & elation that only love can bring. The songs capture, as Stills calls it, "the moment when you realize that you're falling in love while desperately trying to catch your breath" Stills, seeking to break out of his more classic folk sounding '98 Atlantic Records debut enlisted the services of producer Hod David, whose work with Maxwell he admired, drummer Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright) and Mixer Juan Patino (Lisa Loeb, Jewel). Such combined talents spawned an album that helped to frame Chris' songs in a surprisingly fresh Top 40/Rock landscape. Music runs deep in Stills' gene pool. While his father, Stephen Stills is celebrated for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash & Young, his mother Veronique Sanson is a pop legend in France. He credits her for instigating his love of music. Chris recalls the night Veronique had received a huge Beatles box set for performing in a Paris Beatles tribute concert. She returned home and sternly suggested, "Listen to this." "Their songwriting was just so huge to me, " he says "I definitely rip pages out of their book." Stills showcases his French heritage on the disc, singing two songs en français. He calls the songs "experiments" that allowed him the opportunity to work with some French songwriters he admires. "Demon" is a twisted love song penned by Philippe Dijian and Steven Eicher, while "Kitty Kathy" (his favorite French track) enabled him to collaborate with one of his songwriting idols, Jean-Louis Murat, whom Stills hails as the Neil Young of France. Back in the U.S.A., Stills is excited that his album will finally be released stateside. "It's a great homecoming, " he says, "I feel as if the troops are finally coming home." write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |