It's a return to the simpler days for alt-rock mainstays Jimmy Eat World on their upcoming seventh album, partially inspired by recording at the home studio of producer/musician Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan Band), as well as looking back at their classic 1999 album, Clarity.
As we recently reported, Damage is out June 11 on Dine Alone Records/RCA and features 10 new songs of the Phoenix band's trademark emotional rock. The group recorded the upcoming album with Johannes in L.A. in the fall of 2012 — a welcome change of pace from their previous three albums, which were all recorded at home.
"We wanted to get away from our own studio for a change," explains vocalist/guitarist Jim Adkins in a recent interview with Exclaim! "But we still didn't want to do the completely traditional way that people make records, so we moved to Alain's house for a month and set up drums in his living room and amps in his bedroom and cut a record at his place. It was really nice to let go of a little bit of control to another person. We've just been holed up in our Batcave for so long that we began to lose perspective, I think."
Damage is a return to the band's earlier, more straightforward sound, without a lot of the overly poppy and produced elements of their past few studio albums. Adkins says the 2009 Clarity X 10 tour — a 10th anniversary celebration of the band's landmark emo-rock opus in which they played the album back to front — set the impetus for a more stripped-down approach to writing again.
"It was a byproduct of us wanting to make it simpler, I think. We were really focusing on performance and not insane studio creations this time," says Adkins. "In the last few years, we took a deep look at Clarity, and I did start thinking about that album again... At the time, Clarity was kind of more like 'everything is new,' but it was similar in the way I approached the writing for this new one."
Adkins used a different writing style on Damage than the band's previous album, 2010's Invented, on which he used photo books for inspiration and wrote mostly narratives from a female perspective. This time out the Jimmy Eat World frontman, known for his poetic lyrics and love-gone-wrong themes, decided to go in the opposite direction in order to get a similar result.
"Working on the material for Damage, right away I wanted to get away from completely fictional, completely character-based narratives. I wanted the initial prompt to be something that was more personal, instead of more voyeuristic, like Invented. Love songs make the rock'n'roll world go 'round, you know, but the 'I'm so happy I'm in love idea' for a song is just so boring to me. I can't have any empathy for that type of a song, so naturally I gravitate more towards breakup songs and love songs with a lot of adversity to them… So the general theme of Damage is relationships; it's breakups, it's introspection, it's all of things that are involved in adult relationships."
There are no surprises on Damage; no forays into quasi-boy-band radio pop (see: Chase This Light's "Here It Goes"), no surprise appearances of gruff-voiced guitarist Tom Linton at the microphone (Invented's "Action Needs an Ambulance"), and no big-rock barnburners (a good portion of 2004's Futures). Instead we get a Jimmy Eat World staple album, one that might be pointed to as showing off their signature sound.
"I really like the idea of giving yourself some restraint. Giving yourself a forum to explore in and try to make something that fits, making the most creative thing you can, given some self-defined boundaries. And that's just the approach we've had for a long time. You're always going to gravitate towards what you like to do, and certain devices you use to get that to happen, and we just have ours. The longer we continue to do that, the more ingrained and defined it becomes."
Dine Alone Records owner Joel Carriere says he's thrilled to work with Jimmy Eat World in Canada and has followed the band since their first album, 1996's Static Prevails.
"About two years ago I made it my mission to sign Jimmy Eat World," Carriere tells Exclaim! "I really felt like we were the perfect home for this band and hoped they would feel the same way. Now, here we are talking about Jimmy Eat World on Dine Alone Records. I am living my music nerd dreams!"
Adkins says the band, which moved to RCA from longtime label Interscope in the U.S., is happy to be dealing with the Canadian indie label as well. "We're excited. I remember when Dine Alone were putting out Moneen records, so they've been doing it for a long time and it's great."
In support of Damage, Jimmy Eat World have announced a lengthy North American tour. You can see all the dates here, while the few Canadian stops can be found below.
Check out a sneak peek at the album's first single, "I Will Steal You Back," complete with lyrics and a band photo collage, also below.
Tour dates:
6/29 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON – Common's at Butlet's Barracks Historic Site
7/4 Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7/12 Vancouver, BC – PNE Amphitheatre
7/13 Victoria, BC – Rock the Shores (Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre)
8/2-8/4 Montreal, QC - Osheaga
As we recently reported, Damage is out June 11 on Dine Alone Records/RCA and features 10 new songs of the Phoenix band's trademark emotional rock. The group recorded the upcoming album with Johannes in L.A. in the fall of 2012 — a welcome change of pace from their previous three albums, which were all recorded at home.
"We wanted to get away from our own studio for a change," explains vocalist/guitarist Jim Adkins in a recent interview with Exclaim! "But we still didn't want to do the completely traditional way that people make records, so we moved to Alain's house for a month and set up drums in his living room and amps in his bedroom and cut a record at his place. It was really nice to let go of a little bit of control to another person. We've just been holed up in our Batcave for so long that we began to lose perspective, I think."
Damage is a return to the band's earlier, more straightforward sound, without a lot of the overly poppy and produced elements of their past few studio albums. Adkins says the 2009 Clarity X 10 tour — a 10th anniversary celebration of the band's landmark emo-rock opus in which they played the album back to front — set the impetus for a more stripped-down approach to writing again.
"It was a byproduct of us wanting to make it simpler, I think. We were really focusing on performance and not insane studio creations this time," says Adkins. "In the last few years, we took a deep look at Clarity, and I did start thinking about that album again... At the time, Clarity was kind of more like 'everything is new,' but it was similar in the way I approached the writing for this new one."
Adkins used a different writing style on Damage than the band's previous album, 2010's Invented, on which he used photo books for inspiration and wrote mostly narratives from a female perspective. This time out the Jimmy Eat World frontman, known for his poetic lyrics and love-gone-wrong themes, decided to go in the opposite direction in order to get a similar result.
"Working on the material for Damage, right away I wanted to get away from completely fictional, completely character-based narratives. I wanted the initial prompt to be something that was more personal, instead of more voyeuristic, like Invented. Love songs make the rock'n'roll world go 'round, you know, but the 'I'm so happy I'm in love idea' for a song is just so boring to me. I can't have any empathy for that type of a song, so naturally I gravitate more towards breakup songs and love songs with a lot of adversity to them… So the general theme of Damage is relationships; it's breakups, it's introspection, it's all of things that are involved in adult relationships."
There are no surprises on Damage; no forays into quasi-boy-band radio pop (see: Chase This Light's "Here It Goes"), no surprise appearances of gruff-voiced guitarist Tom Linton at the microphone (Invented's "Action Needs an Ambulance"), and no big-rock barnburners (a good portion of 2004's Futures). Instead we get a Jimmy Eat World staple album, one that might be pointed to as showing off their signature sound.
"I really like the idea of giving yourself some restraint. Giving yourself a forum to explore in and try to make something that fits, making the most creative thing you can, given some self-defined boundaries. And that's just the approach we've had for a long time. You're always going to gravitate towards what you like to do, and certain devices you use to get that to happen, and we just have ours. The longer we continue to do that, the more ingrained and defined it becomes."
Dine Alone Records owner Joel Carriere says he's thrilled to work with Jimmy Eat World in Canada and has followed the band since their first album, 1996's Static Prevails.
"About two years ago I made it my mission to sign Jimmy Eat World," Carriere tells Exclaim! "I really felt like we were the perfect home for this band and hoped they would feel the same way. Now, here we are talking about Jimmy Eat World on Dine Alone Records. I am living my music nerd dreams!"
Adkins says the band, which moved to RCA from longtime label Interscope in the U.S., is happy to be dealing with the Canadian indie label as well. "We're excited. I remember when Dine Alone were putting out Moneen records, so they've been doing it for a long time and it's great."
In support of Damage, Jimmy Eat World have announced a lengthy North American tour. You can see all the dates here, while the few Canadian stops can be found below.
Check out a sneak peek at the album's first single, "I Will Steal You Back," complete with lyrics and a band photo collage, also below.
Tour dates:
6/29 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON – Common's at Butlet's Barracks Historic Site
7/4 Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7/12 Vancouver, BC – PNE Amphitheatre
7/13 Victoria, BC – Rock the Shores (Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre)
8/2-8/4 Montreal, QC - Osheaga
