September 11, 2002
Tonic Screws Its 'Head On Straight'

By Catherine Applefeld Olson

While elixirs often mellow with time, guitar-driven melody maker Tonic cranks it up on its third set, Head on Straight, due Sept. 24 from Universal Records.

Nowhere does the trio's current musical statement resound more strongly than in granite-edged first single "Take Me As I Am," which opens with a weighty guitar riff then reveals the pop hooks that first separated the band from the pack in 1997.

"It's a bridge; it's a great way to experience the next step of Tonic," singer/songwriter/guitarist Emerson Hart says. "It's a great way to start, lyrically. We're not about image. We stake our entire career on the strength of our songs."

Bridging the band's previous work -- its platinum-plus debut album, Lemon Parade, and the follow-up, Sugar -- was part of the band's mission on this summer's Jeep World Outside festival. During the tour Tonic dished up old and new material alike alongside rockers Sheryl Crow, Train, and others. Once the album is out, the band will support the set with a U.S. headlining tour that kicks off in October.

This album also brought some changes for the band. For one, Hart bid farewell to Los Angeles, where bandmates Jeff Russo and Dan Lavery still make their home, and hung his shingle in Nashville. Much of Head On Straight was written during an initial year "off," in which Hart says he holed down and let Nashville's "bucolic setting" wash over him.

"I needed that time to get my head together. We had always been touring, always on the road," he explains. "I wanted to make sure the next record would be coming from fresh eyes and ears."

The trio hammered out finishing touches in Hart's basement during a rendezvous, and found their creative muse leading them down a harder-edged road. "We wanted to make a rock record," Hart says. "'Sugar' had rock moments but it was a little more introspective musically, a little more mellow. We wanted to punch it heavy this time."

To get the job done, they turned to veteran producer Bob Rock, whose "laid-back efficiency" and Maui, Hawaii, studio setting provided a welcome change after the draining experience of self-producing Sugar, according to Hart.

Of that experience, Hart says, "It was exhausting. We couldn't stay focused and there was really no neutral party. This time it was a great experience. We enjoyed recording music again, and he was able to bring things out of us -- and particularly out of me as a singer -- that we hadn't been able to capture before."

September 6, 2002
India.Arie Offers Spiritual 'Voyage'

By Rashaun Hall

It's unusual to meet a successful artist who is not caught up in the pressures of celebrity. India.Arie seems to be of that rare breed. Having achieved renown with her Acoustic Soul debut -- which sold more than 1.6 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- Arie returns Sept. 24 with Voyage to India (Motown). If she feels any pressure, you can't tell.

"The thought crossed my mind about not wanting to alienate my fan base, but I don't know what would alienate them or bring them in, so I decided not to think about it," Arie says in her first interview about the new album. "I made a conscious decision when I was recording Acoustic Soul to -- and this is one of my mantras -- follow the music and let the chips fall where they may. That's what I did with this album. It would have been way too much to try to live up to some expectations when I don't even know what they are."

For her sophomore set, Arie did make at least one change: collaborating more with her band. "I took a more open-minded approach to songwriting," says Arie. "Normally, I would write a guitar part and write lyrics around it or the other way around, but the song would always start with me. Because I had a band and liked a lot of their ideas, everything didn't always start with me [for this album]. Lyrically, everything still starts with me but not necessarily musically."

She cites as an example "Little Things," the album's first single, which she says "doesn't have any guitar at all. My production partner/musical director, Shannon Sanders, said he had this 'cold idea.' He played it, and he said it sounded like a song about getting free. So, we wrote it together in Jamaica. This album is still guitar-driven, but there are just a few songs that are not. Whether it is guitar-driven or not, it doesn't matter. I'm still saying what it is I want to say, and it's still me."

The single is also emblematic of Arie's meteoric rise. "I love 'Little Things,' because that's how I feel," she says. "That's the lesson that I learned last year put into one song."

Additionally, Arie reached back to songs that did not make the cut for Acoustic Soul to include on the new 15-track set. "'Right Direction' was supposed to be on Acoustic Soul," Arie says. "It's funny how songs come back around and the meaning makes itself known when it's time. It meant something for Acoustic Soul; it was one of the first songs I recorded for it. I was making this big step in my life, and I was going in a certain direction -- that was a big statement. Now it's even bigger, because I have different pressures, life experiences, and responsibilities. It means more to me now than it did then."

The album will be released in most international markets Sept. 24. Arie will promote the new album in Japan during the first week of October. Later in the month she'll return to the U.S. for a 27-city small-theater tour with newcomer Chaos, DJ Rogers Jr., Floetry, and Slum Village.

Since the release of Acoustic Soul -- which earned seven Grammy Award nominations -- Arie has collaborated on recordings with Julia Fordham, 2001 Billboard Century Award honoree John Mellencamp, and Motown labelmate Lathun, as well as being chosen to be on the "listmakers" panel for the second annual Shortlist Music Prize.

With all of her recent successes Arie understands -- and accepts -- that rumors, paparazzi, and the other baggage of celebrity status.

"Everything needs its opposite," Arie says with a smile. "If the celebrity part and all the stuff that goes along with it didn't exist, I wouldn't be learning any lessons. There would be nothing pushing me to be a better person. It would just be me floating around, like on a cloud, wearing different clothes and singing my songs. If there weren't flights, early mornings, and lack of anonymity-it would be perfect! Those things just balance it out, so it just makes me grow.

September 3, 2002
Gloria Gaynor Wishes Fans 'Love'

By Michael Paoletta

After numerous European releases throughout the '90s, Gloria Gaynor's new album, I Wish You Love, due Sept. 10 via Logic/BMG, is the artist's first worldwide release in 15 years. To reinforce this point, especially for her U.S. fans, Gaynor begins the album with the bubbly "Gotta Be Forever," which is home to these opening lines: "I know you're wondering where I've been/Sweet songs of love got me coming in."

In a way, Gaynor notes, "those two lines bring me back home." To paraphrase her most classic recording, Gaynor has, unlike most artists from the disco era, survived.

"It was truly wonderful to enter the studio to record all new and original material," Gaynor says of the new disc, obviously referring to past European releases like 1997's Careless Whisper that often included cover versions. (The new album includes one cover: "Just Keep Thinking About You.")

Gaynor says the bulk of the songs on "I Wish You Love" were written expressly for her. "These are not random songs taken from somebody's catalog," she explains. "I knew from day one that I wanted a love concept -- I'm all about that. I also wanted to keep the lyrics uplifting, offering words of encouragement."

In signature Gaynor fashion, the album boasts a variety of sounds, encompassing upbeat dance-pop ("No One Can Love You More"), power ballads ("I Never Knew"), midtempo R&B (the title track), and classic-sounding soul ("I'm Here for You," which was co-penned by the singer). Also included are live English and Spanglish versions of Gaynor's golden classic, the Grammy winning "I Will Survive."

According to Logic, Gaynor will be seen quite a bit on television and through other media outlets around the time of the album's release. She's also got a handful of tour dates on her itinerary through the end of the year, including a show tonight (Sept. 3) in Berlin, and a Dec. 19 New York appearance as part of a radio station-sponsored concert. For updates, visit her official Web site.

Here are Gloria Gaynor's upcoming tour dates:

Sep 03: Berlin (I.C.C.)
Sep 07: New York (The Roxy)
Sep 14: Aurora, Ill. (Paramount Arts Center)
Oct 13: Los Angeles (Shrine Auditorium)
Nov 09: Trenton, N.J. (Sovereign Bank Arena)
Nov 16: Minneapolis (Convention Center)
Dec 19: New York (radio-sponsored show)

August 27, 2002
Beenie Man Whips Up A 'Tropical Storm'

By Rashaun Hall

It's good to be Beenie Man, especially right now. With "Feel It Boy," his duet with labelmate Janet Jackson, steadily climbing the charts, the Jamaica native is primed for the biggest debut of his career with, Tropical Storm, released August 20 on Virgin.

Beenie Man's recent success has not come without a price. Despite the Grammy Award-winning success of his last set, Art & Life, the dancehall star was unhappy with his label. "The current president, Matt [Serletic], is great. He meets with the artist; he knows what you're thinking because he's a musician, too."

He adds, "The first album was all about my choice and [Virgin A&R man Patrick] Moxey. Only Moxey and the people who worked the album knew how great I was. [No one else knew] anything about me. I couldn't work under that regime. The last album went gold, and we won a Grammy Award, but the success was not all that. This album is different. [Serletic] worked on the album. That gives you a more comfortable feeling that this is going to work."

In fact, it was Serletic's idea to approach Jackson about singing on "Feel It Boy." "The single was produced by the Neptunes, and the hook was originally sung by the Neptunes," says Beenie Man of the cut. "Then, we got Joe to sing the hook, but we didn't get a release from Joe. Matt said, 'Why don't we let Janet sing it?' He called her, asked if she was interested, and she said yes. We sent her the CD, gave her a week, and she learned every part of the song."

In addition to Jackson, other guests include Lil' Kim, DJ Clue, and Sean Paul, making Tropical Storm one of dancehall's more diverse albums.

"The pop stations are the stations that broke reggae in America," Beenie Man says. "The pop stations played Bob Marley. It's just a foundation genre. They love the genre of music, and if they get one that they love, they play it. This time, we're just going forward because you have Janet Jackson, who is already pop, and I'm a dancehall superstar."

August 26, 2002
Lifehouse Continues Its 'Climb' To The Top

By Charles Daugherty

When it comes to Lifehouse's sophomore effort, Stanley Climbfall, due Sept. 17 via DreamWorks, frontman/songwriter Jason Wade has no intention of hanging on a moment in time.

"Hanging by a Moment" is the smash single that propelled the band's 2000 debut, No Name Face, to sales of 2.3 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With the new recording, the band and label are unified in their mission to ensure that they avoid the dreaded one-hit wonder albatross. For Wade, the first step in the process was in assembling strong material.

"I started writing songs immediately after the first album was made," he says. "I didn't want to be unprepared when it came time to do the second record. As we toured, we gained a stronger identity of who we were as a band, and my writing grew from there. When putting together Stanley Climbfall, we didn't have the pressure to make another hit single. We just concentrated on making a good album."

Lifehouse manager Jude Cole agrees. "It takes more than a single to define the character of someone's art," he observes. "This record does a wonderful job of capturing the identity of the boys and their music as a whole. It's a more confident record. The songs are more married to each other than their debut."

Stanley Climbfall also reflects a change in focus in terms of the band's overall message. Wade -- who prefers to distance himself from most of the pop culture that is served on radio or TV -- penned most of the set's tracks during downtime between concerts while on tour with Matchbox Twenty and Pearl Jam.

"The album is about moving forward," he offers. "We had a lot of songs to choose from when we started production of the album. It was clear that some songs fit each other better than others. Looking back, it was clear we had a more proactive theme overall. On No Name Face, we spent time identifying where we were at. Stanley Climbfall is about recognizing where we were at and deciding what to do next."

Like the band's debut, Stanley Climbfall was produced by Ron Aniello and mixed by Brendan O'Brien, who helped Lifehouse take Wade's four-track, back-of-the-tour bus recordings and develop them into the 12 final cuts appearing on the record.

"The record has real depth in terms of an overall body of work," DreamWorks president Michael Ostin says, pointing toward stand-out cuts "Wash," "Anchor," and "Take Me Away," as well as the single "Spin" -- all of which showcase memorable guitar/drum-driven hooks that complement Wade's potent lyrics. "They've outdone themselves."

Lifehouse, ending a series of summer concerts in the U.S., will do a handful of international concert dates in September and October before returning to the States for more touring and finalizing decisions on adding a guitarist to the band.