Caught in the Carousel

Leah Andreone

By Alex Green

Leah Andreone

Tom Waits once said that just because one doesn't have their line in the water, it doesn't mean they're not thinking about fishing. Although she hasn't put an album out in a decade or tirelessly toured the country with her band, singer/songwriter Leah Andreone has been thinking about fishing for a long time. But piscatological metaphors aside, the plain fact is the San Diego-born singer/songwriter is back and she's never sounded better.

Andreone arrived on the scene in the mid-nineties and her arrival was marked by a massive hit ("It's Alright, It's Okay") and a successful stint touring with Lilith Fair. However, after her 1998 sophomore effort Alchemy, Andreone left her label and while the industry changed around her, she sat on the sidelines watching.

Well, not exactly watching.

Leah Andreone

Biding her time until she decided what her record would be, Andreone appeared on film soundtracks and compilations, worked on various projects with everyone from Kay Hanley (Letters To Cleo) to Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails) and never stopped writing songs. Some came in linear cycles, others in arbitrary artistic bursts, but they just kept coming. Andreone's third album, the stirring and reflective Avalanche is the singer/songwriter's first effort in almost eleven years, and it may also be her best.

Produced by Andreone and guitarist Kevin Fisher, Avalanche's ten numbers are charged with surging melodies and deft harmonic flourishes. "Never Stop Trying" is a driving rocker; "Live Your Life" is insistent and invigorating and "Make Time For Me"--which finds Andreone teaming up with Semisonic's Dan Wilson--is one of the most romantically urgent numbers in recent memory. Elsewhere, "Love Is Everything" is lilting and utterly lovely; the spare "I'm Here" is an indie rock lullaby and the banjo-flecked "A Flaw In The Way You Love Me" showcases the range, beauty and power of Andreone's voice. Crystalline and utterly gripping, her performance here is nothing short of staggering.

CITC caught up with Andreone on the eve of the release of Avalanche and she was kind enough to sit down and talk about life without a label, social networking sites and her personal philosophy.

Leah Andreone

Caught In The Carousel: Can you describe the last eleven years in one sentence?

Leah Andreone: One sentence...I'm thinking a run-on sentence could really benefit me here. Here goes: I lived, laughed, cried, won, lost, learned, grew, fell down, watched others fall down, got back up, watched the other people get up, wrote lots and lots of songs, got dropped by a label, watched the people around me live, made more music, spent lots of time with my family and friends, (deep breath) read a lot of books, worked on projects other than my own, got a new dog, grew a garden and wrote more songs.

CITC: Are the songs on the new album from a particular song cycle or time period, or are they from various stops during the last eleven years?

LA: These songs are all from one song cycle. The newest attempt at a third album.

CITC: What changes have you noticed about yourself as a songwriter now compared to your first album? Has the process remained the same?

LA: The process is kind-of mysterious to me. It's funny because I really like to understand how the mind operates and I do a fair amount of reading on the subject, but when it comes to songwriting, I'm quite comfortable not understanding it completely. With that said, I know what hasn't changed is that writing music has always been a cathartic process for me and many times I use melody and lyrics as a way to emote. The standout change for me from my first album to my newest album is life experience. Watching the people around me and myself navigate through life. I've processed new information through different eyes. I'm in a very similar situation as I was when I wrote many of the lyrics for Veiled, my first record. I am free of any corporate influence...just writing a song to write a song. It's a whole new world for an artist without a label.

Leah Andreone

CITC: But "artist without a label" means something far different than it did in 1996. Then it would have been thought of in the pejorative, but now it's a good thing, suggesting freedom, autonomy, control and artistic limitlessness, combined with a viable way to actually make a living.

LA: Oh yeah, I agree with you. Independence today mostly is a good thing. I feel like a whole new and fertile world has appeared for really anyone who wants to pursue a passion or career in music. I mean, the opportunities are boundless. With that said, the playing field is much more crowded today (without the major labels acting as the all-knowing gate keepers). But, I'd rather have a crowded playing field than having artists selected/deselected by a handful of major labels.

CITC: How do you like wearing all of the many hats that come with this new position?

LA: Nowadays, I do like wearing the different hats. I have had some growing pains but am growing nonetheless. I have had to learn how to balance the creative and the technical. There is a lot of administrative work that goes on behind the scenes! While I was on a label, I had a very luxurious situation handed to me. The majority of my waking time was spent on music and creativity. If anything was even remotely related to business, it was looked at as the antithesis of creativity, and thus handled by someone else. I was encouraged to stay clear-headed and in a creative space. That was amazing and fruitful. The bright side of not having that luxury these days is that I have learned so, so much. I am very hands on now. My brother David Andreone and Kevin Fisher, with whom I made Avalanche are also very hands-on. We have figured out a number of systems, and it seems to work.

CITC: In your darkest moments did you ever contemplate not returning to music?

LA: Never.

Leah Andreone

CITC: What made you wait until now to put out the third album--were you tempted to put one out earlier?

LA: Putting out a record was always in the back of my mind while writing but it never felt so possible without a label, until now, for me. I started writing and developing for other artists and other projects. That kept me satiated.

CITC: From the batches of songs you have in the Andreone vaults, how did you choose the ten numbers that comprise this record?

LA: I specifically wrote each song for Avalanche.

CITC: Let's talk about Avalanche--what themes did you find yourself attracted to for this album?

LA: I focused a lot on resilience. I focused on joy and I focused on choices. I'm one decade further into my life than the last record around. I've seen and felt a lot of things I never knew I would see or feel. I've seen others go through trauma they could never have guessed about going through. I've been pretty fixated on human resilience. My own resilience and others. It's amazing to me. Life is amazing. There is so much crazy beauty...everywhere. The euphoria, the joy and the happiness I've experienced is something I can't even verbalize. On the other hand, the lows can be so overwhelming and we all know people around us whose life circumstances are unthinkable and my guess is that we have all been through something unthinkable. I wanted to attempt to capture his story, my story, her story, the old homeless woman's story, your story, my friend's story, my mother's story and find the relation between them all. My mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. That had a large effect on me and my writing. By the way, she is now cancer free!

Leah Andreone

CITC: Can you talk about the sequencing of the album? What did you have in mind with starting with "Never Stop Trying" and closing with "Avalanche?"

LA: "Never Stop Trying" and "Avalanche" are the bookends. "Never Stop Trying" starts the record off. A clear message. Don't give up. No matter what follows. Whatever tomorrow brings. Please keep going. I look at the interior of the record as the tomorrows and as what life might serve us from day to day. The pros and the cons. It's a sort of surfing trip. You catch a wave, you ride it all the way in, you feel elated and alive. Then, you catch another wave, you ride and you crash. Hard. You either stay down or you get up. But if you decide to live life fully you ride each wave and see where it gets you. And that's not to say that you don't take control and navigate the board. You do. Avalanche is an acknowledgment that with one breath, one move, one choice you can change your whole world. That's a lot of power we wield.

CITC: How did the wonderful duet between you and Dan Wilson come about?

LA: Now, I realize that two questions ago, I misspoke. This is the only song that wasn't written within the same time scheme as the other ten songs. Dan and I wrote "Make Time For Me" in 2000. I flew to Minneapolis. He picked me up at the airport. We went to his house, sat down at the piano and wrote a song. We tried to merge the concept of love with keeping a beat. Dan is inspiring to be around. He is prolific, intuitive, smart and just about as genuine as a person can get. I knew that Dan had sung "Make Time For Me" out live and thought possibly he'd be interested in recording the song as a duet. I asked him. He said yes. He produced a beautiful vocal arrangement in the bridge. He blew me away.

CITC: What's the plan to bring Avalanche to the world? It's such a marvelous album that it should catch on quick--but radio seems to be receding and the way to land a hit single is to get a song on "Grey's Anatomy" or "The Hills"....

LA: Radio has been really good to me in the past. I'd love to have their support on this record (and in some markets, we're getting it). But in terms of "how" we get the record out? Organically. Via word of mouth, the internet, television and film licensing, through sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Soundcloud, iLike, etc. Through amazing music sites like yours.

Leah Andreone

CITC: Speaking of social networking, how much do you utilize sites like MySpace or Facebook to communicate with your fans?

LA: I am getting much better about utilizing the social networks. I've always communicated with my fans via fan letters, emails--I try to answer as much of my MySpace mail as I can...I've made my email address very accessible. I love the interaction. Regarding my Facebook and Twitter...I'm diving in right about now...I'm a person who really likes to be in the moment and the thought of looking down at my Blackberry and missing something is disconcerting for me...so, I'll probably never be the most proficient twitterer but I'm getting there!

CITC: The live set: new ones, old ones, maybe a few surprises?

LA: All of the above!

CITC: Who have you been listening to lately that you really like?

LA: Oh wow...Rachel Yamagata's Elephants is beautiful and played frequently around here. I'm listening to Tom Petty's Wildflowers right now. I regularly listen to Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Sufjan Stevens, Glen Hansard, Michael Franti...I saw him live....absolutely amazing. Dan Wilson is a regular for me--three songs in particular: "Free Life," "Act Naturally" and "Secret Smile." The mainstays on my iPod are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Carole King.... Okay, I'll stop now.

CITC: What's your personal philosophy?

LA: Embrace the positive and release the negative as quickly as you can. I believe in love, truth and kindness.

Discography:
Avalanche (2009)
Unlabeled: The Demos (EP) (2006)
Alchemy (1998)
Veiled (1996)

Internet: www.leahandreone.com

Leah Andreone

Avalanche is out now on the Urban Myth Recording Collective.