Take That's Songsmith Aims High On Solo Project
Now that dotmusic has exclusively heard four tracks from Open Road, which is due in September, we can reveal that confidence is justified. The songs display his growing maturity as a composer, but they remain catchy enough to ensure he doesn't lose his Take That fans. Speaking to Barlow - polite and communicative to the point of garrulousness - about his fresh start, it is clear that it was always intended he should pursue a solo career. "Nigel Martin-Smith originally built a band around me and the others were aware of that from the start. I'd always been a solo artist, although I was only playing clubs, and I loved the freedom. Then I joined a band and I decided that was what I wanted because it was such a laugh. The whole band thing flowered over 12 months and what was possibly going to last for a couple of singles or an album took on a life of its own."Events took over but Take That's run came to end, hastened by the departure of Robbie Williams and the desire of the other members to take some time off. Martin-Smith pointed out that the way the boy band market stood, if the boys were out of the spotlight for any length of time, it could result in oblivion. At this point, everyone - and Barlow maintains it was a collective decision - decided to call it a day while they were still at the top.
For Barlow, the band's break-up almost meant he could revert to type. Having begun to feel the constraints of the teen format more and more acutely, he seized the initiative. "Some artists would immediately opt to spend three months doing demos in Monserrat," says Nick Raymonde, who originally signed Take That to their RCA deal and now A&Rs Barlow. "Not Gary. He chose to get straight down to it in London. He couldn't wait."
Barlow entered Metropolis studios in April, just two months after the band's farewell Amsterdam gig. Together with producer Chris Porter, he has spent the past three months honing his debut solo album, aided by a fierce inner resolve and around 43 songs which he already had banked, although he maintains he never deliberately held any back from the band. "No, but there were often eight or nine songs put to one side because they were too grown up. Back For Good was originally set aside because I wanted a 32-piece string section. Now, I don't have to worry about that."
In fact, Barlow has a free rein on the project, selecting everything from musicians to songs and arrangements. He shares co-production credits with Porter, who worked on some tracks on the last Take That album Nobody Else. Barlow says, "He's one of the few producers to take notice of the demos I've made. I hate working with producers usually because, in the past, they've all had a strong opinion about the record and, usually, it's been the wrong one."
The person with the strongest opinion this time is clearly Barlow himself. He communicates a powerful-sense of self-possession and rigid focus on his future. "I'm not taking advice off anyone with this record," he says flatly. "I've taken charge of everything. They're probably wondering where this character has come from, but I think what I'm delivering sounds successful."
His freedom is even likely to result in a spin-off club project, a cover of the Roachford hit Cuddly Toy, which he is planning to work on with Mark Picchiotti, whose previous credits include work with Madonna. It all sounds a long way from the authoritarian control reputedly wielded by Martin-Smith over Take That, although Barlow says such stories are exaggerated. "Nigel earned this reputation as a Svengali manager, but the credit should go to the band because we were the ones to take the music to a different domain and make the shows different. Nigel was only ever involved with the creative side of the band in the early days and now he's definitely only the administrator of my career, because it's quite obvious to me where I've got to go now," he explains.
That might sound like friction but Martin-Smith is happy to underplay his role then and now. "I was instrumental in bringing the band together but, once they started to have hits, it was very much a case of everyone in Take That having a say. Now, this is very much Gary's solo album and he has been involved in every part of it." Raymonde agrees, "He's so focused you never have to worry about anything being not quite right because, before you've even had time to mention it, he's thought of it. He's consumed with it, which is great, it makes my job really easy."
The first finished tracks from the album suggest Barlow is right to pursue his vision so intensely. Three songs - Always, Today I Lost You and the title track Open Road - demonstrate an unfettered songwriting talent, towering melodies and rich arrangements all matched with some powerful and beautifully phrased singing. But what is even more impressive is the fact that none of the songs sound like Take That material. Barlow has, at a stroke, managed to create his own sound, which while utterly commercial and marketable, has a distinctly mature stamp. One track, Always, is potentially massive. It starts as a slow catchy ballad, but builds into a huge dramatic, swirling affair with the refrain, "I'll always be in love with you", destined to bounce around the minds of music lovers everywhere.
The title track, Open Road, is another big song which really summons up a widescreen image and again marks Barlow's mastery of more grown-up music. Today I Lost You is more uptempo with a snappy upfront guitar sound that will surprise Take That aficionados without alienating them. "I have really had to work to get this album right, but I am quietly confident with these songs," says Barlow. "I'm going for quite an honest sound on the album. By that I mean organic, quite acoustically orientated. Everything on the LP has been played live, we've not used computers or anything like that. If I do a vocal, it should be as high on the track as possible because I can sing, you know."
This point is underscored by the lead single Forever Love, an all-stops-out ballad which builds steadily over piano and vocal to a big climax. "In a way, it gives you quite a bad impression of how the album will sound because it's quite upbeat and rhythmic," says Barlow. "It was a safe choice, but the songwriting is such a leap from what I was doing that it will help bring people slowly to where I am now."
GARY BARLOW jpgForever Love has number one stamped all over it, a position it could well maintain for weeks as carefully selected TV appearances, beginning with the National Lottery BBC1 show, kick in during the life of the single. And one of the song's main strengths as a single is in showing the impressive range and emotion of Barlow's voice. Some observers have made much of Barlow being the new George Michael and, while there are obvious parallels (to the point that Barlow admits to possessing every Wham! record ever released), Forever Love has much more in common with Elton John. "That's fair to say. George's songs aren't as musical as Elton's," Barlow says. "You can tell with his songs that a musician has written them whereas George's are far more like a four-chord groove which he sings over. With Elton, I know someone very musical has written the songs and that's more the way I tend to do things."
In fact, Barlow and John are well acquainted. "Elton has really been the only star who has ever offered me decent advice," says Barlow. "I've known him since quite early on. I've played him some of the songs from the new album, which he said sound fantastic. He completely agreed with me about the direction I'm taking."
Although Barlow claims to be uncomfortable with the image side of the business, his creative control has extended to everything from photo shoots to the Sophie Muller-directed video for Forever Love. "A career built on a set of teeth is a very fragile one and I'm uncomfortable with the fashion side of things. I was never happy with it all in Take That either, but I went along with it."
Nevertheless, styling and image have been carefully considered. All photographs and videos are shot in black and white - a stark contrast to the garish technicolour treatments that Take That often indulged in - in an attempt to emphasise the sense of Gary Barlow the mature artist. He is clued up enough to know he must play the game to a large degree, but everything is tailored not to obscure the songs. It is the quality of the songwriting which he believes will make the album sell - and sell well: "My aim is very high; I really want to get two or three worldwide hits from it. I'm hoping to sell 10m albums and I know that to do it, I need to crack it in America.."
To this end, he has been liaising closely with Arista to whom he is signed in the US. Arista, in turn, has been preparing the ground for him by putting him in contact with David Foster and Dianne Warren, American writers with a string of huge hits behind them. He went to Los Angeles to write and record with the pair in June during the video shoot for the single, although it's not yet known whether the results will appear on this LP.
Take That never really managed to conquer the US market. Only Back For Good was a significant hit and the final album has shifted 375,000 copies there - just over half the amount of units sold by Elastica's eponymous debut album in the territory.
Roy Lott, executive vice president and general manager of Arista in the US, says, "The challenge is that the general public don't know who Gary Barlow is and they don't really know the separate elements of the band, so Gary doesn't have a running start here. He'll probably have a number one in the UK but, here, he is effectively a new artist."
The strength of Back For Good in the US (still hovering around the Billboard Top 50) will help - and Lott also expects the lush sound of Open Road to vault any boundaries. "It is English sounding and it makes sense for Gary to do that, but a great ballad will be a hit anywhere - you only have to look at Whitney Houston and Celine Dion." Two artists, incidentally, who have received the David Foster treatment.
Open Road will be released in September and RCA in the UK is quietly confident that, with Take That's now maturing fans in tow, Barlow's sales projections are not wildly ambitious.
RCA managing director Hugh Goldsmith envisages a long-term campaign running well into 1997 to help him achieve his aim: "We don't want to burn this out in three months, there's a lot of mileage in this project. We won't put singles out every two months because everyone's involved internationally and you don't do anyone favours if you rush it all.
"We must think it through so we don't shoot our bolt. It is tempting to do everything to ensure we have a number one, but it's about much more than that. We aim to work this album for a long time. I like to think it will be peaking in the autumn of next year."
For his part, Barlow says, "I feel like I've made the best album I can at this time. People expect me to do something new, which is hard, and I really have had to work to get this right; but I'm quietly confident with these songs."
Goldsmith says, "He's given us a fantastic springboard and we have to make sure we do the job well, because Gary can be so huge. He'll be around for many years."
by Mike Pattenden
No comments:
Post a Comment