>>PREVIEW
DANIELLE FRENCH
Thursday, April 5
Broken City
Synchronicity is a funny thing. In 1952, Carl Jung coined the term to describe a set of coincidental events that held more meaning than mere cause and effect – meaningful coincidences whose connections were inexplicable. With the recent popularity of self-help film The Secret and its enticing philosophy of the law of attraction, it would seem these days that it’s just a matter of asking the universe for something and waiting for the delivery. Or even better, don’t ask, just wait around for the good stuff to happen.
Calgary singer-songwriter Danielle French may be someone who thinks things happen for a reason, but in the case of her latest album Shadows, it was also about aligning the planets herself and, in particular, aligning them to find Rheostatics guitarist Martin Tielli. Once found, it did seem like the collaboration was meant to be.
"With Martin there was a lot of synchronicity that brought us together to work on this project," says French. "And there was a strong connection – as we were recording it’s like he would read my mind, we barely needed to talk. I would have the strangest idea in my head and he would execute it without me saying a word. I would just laugh at the flow and ease of our collaboration."
It’s a dynamic that French had been looking for and certainly one that she’d hoped for since starting on the scene more than a decade ago. Shadows is French’s fourth release and showcases her growth not only as a musician but as a songwriter.
"When I first starting writing music in the early ’90s I was inspired by artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Mae Moore, Jann Arden," admits French. "I found they all wrote beautiful, accessible melodies and as I started to learn guitar and write songs, I found that the melodies I stumbled on were nice, accessible melodies as well."
You won’t find much of Lilith Fair in Shadows, a much darker, complex offering than her past albums. It was just a matter of time before she found Tom Waits, whose influence and spirit can be found throughout – with its intricate percussion, elaborate instrumentation and layered harmonies.
"As I continue to write music and explore myself as an artist, I have found that my tendency is to always want to keep pushing the boundaries beyond what is familiar to me," says French. "So once I became familiar with the conventions of standardized chords and common chord changes, my natural inclination was to start finding new creative ways to approach the instrument, my voice and songwriting. Out of interest, I also began seeking out other music that I felt like exploring and pushing these boundaries too."
By also wading into the murky waters of analytical psychology, French has brought forth an album of depth that hints not only at her development as a songwriter but also her growth as a spiritual being.
"Jung coined the term ‘shadow self’ referring to the negative, dark and undesirable parts of the self. Yet I believe we also have a ‘higher self’ that could perhaps be defined as our soul, which existed before we were born and will continue on after we die. The paradox is that we need to fully embrace the ‘shadow self’ in order to transmute it into the light. We have to become fully embodied in our physical selves and delve into all aspects of our psyche in order to fully move into our higher awareness and this theme coloured the approach of the writing, arranging and production on this entire project."
French has cultivated a network of musical soulmates. Shadows features appearances by a variety of Calgary greats – Peter Moller, Jonathan Lewis, Diane Kooch, Brent Van Dusen and Diego Medina. She’s certainly one of the more well-connected Calgary musicians, having worked with such Canadian luminaries as Burton Cummings, Matthew Good and members of Spirit of the West, and Sarah McLachlan and Mae Moore’s bands.
"My philosophy is that it doesn’t hurt to ask," admits French. "When it came time to record Shadows I made a short list of ideal musicians I would like to work with on this project –musicians whose style and energy I felt would be an ideal fit for how I wanted to produce this collection of songs. I also wanted to celebrate the Calgary community that I am proud to be a part of and show off some amazing talent."
If having a roster of talented local musicians wasn’t enough, French brought in ringer Martin Tielli to finish off Shadows.
"Former Rheostatics member Don Kerr played drums on my last CD Piece, so I had crossed paths with Martin before," says French. "A few years ago I was living in Banff and the Rheostatics came to play at the Drake in Canmore and I went to the show. Afterwards, Martin was hanging out drinking and I went up to say hi. At one point I drunkenly spurted out ‘Don Kerr played on my last CD – you should play on my next CD!’ He said, ‘Sure, I’d do it!’ About a year later, in November 2005 I started heading into the studio to work on Shadows, but I had no idea how I would go about tracking Martin down. It turned out one of my day jobs was working at One Yellow Rabbit theatre. Just as I was starting to record Shadows, they announced the High Performance Rodeo lineup for 2006 with the Rheostatics performing for an entire week. I couldn’t believe this coincidence and felt that the universe was basically handing me Martin Tielli."
Ask and ye shall receive, indeed. |
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