finding a place in the world

USHER TRYING TO FIND HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

Author: Greg Burliuk
Source: Kingston Whig-Standard
Date: September 9, 2003
Provided By: Caitlin (url)

David Usher has the exotic good looks of a pop heartthrob but swoon over him if you will, he’d rather you pay attention to what he’s saying.

His new CD, Hallucinations, due out in stores today, is a feast for the thoughtful, although it contains lots of gorgeous pop tunes.

"Every artist writes about the way they see things around them," says Usher. "You write about what you’re interested in. But I’m not trying to write about chicks and cars."

What Usher is interested in is reconciling his life with the state of the world as he sees it. And that’s why Hallucinations isn’t exactly cheery. In many songs the singer struggles to overcome a sense of loss or dread.

"It’s a bleak world with some light in it," says the 37-year-old. "There’s a sense of constantly trying to find that bright spot in your life.

"I spend a lot of time travelling and seeing a lot of different cultures and I see a lot of different people. Seeing how other people live in different ways makes you break down the facade of your own life.

"Also, I had a baby this year and after that, even the stories in the news affect you differently."

Usher says one of his favorite songs on the album is Devil By My Side because "the sentiments of the song represent the whole album well."

Believe in hope believe in faith
Believe in things I can’t fight
Believe in truth believe in slavery but
It’s only the television kind
Believe that light will find a way
Believe in jets as they blow into the sky
Believe in you believe in me
And all of those things.

Hallucinations comes on the heels of Usher’s second solo album, Morning Orbit, which yielded four hit singles, sold more than 100,000 copies and won a Juno Award for best pop album.

Morning Orbit also firmly established him as a star apart from Moist, the band that first drew him to public attention and has sold more than a million records.

The members of Moist are still good friends - a couple play in Usher’s touring band - but there are no plans for a reunion or to make a record together.

"I’m really focused on touring for this record and my solo stuff is what I’m into right now," says Usher. "But we’re still all very tight."

Moist’s guitarist Mark Makoway (who co-produced Morning Orbit) was one of the three producers Usher used for the new album. The other two are British producer Iestyn Polson and Toronto’s Byron Wong. It was a mixture of the new and familiar with Usher.

"I’d never met Iestyn but I loved both of the David Gray albums he did [Gray is a British singer not unlike Usher in style]," says Usher. "I only talked to Iestyn on the phone a couple of times before I decided to go with him. It was a bit risky because I didn’t know him but we had a great synergy of ideas together and he pushed me.

"I like the way he places the vocal in the mix and his emphasis on lyrics. He has a good understanding of electronic sound and samples but still really understands acoustic instruments and the idea of the story of the song.

"I have a tight circle of people that I always include when making an album. Mark gave it more of a rock edge. And Byron gave it more ambience and the electronic side. I’m a big fan of blending ideas and genres."

Usher originally worked on the album in his home studio so he could work out arrangements for the songs and be free to switch rhythms just by changing them on a computer program. Then it was on to a larger rehearsal space "where we could get loud."

Purchasers of the album will certainly get enough music.

There are 12 songs listed but there is a 13th, a live version of St. Lawrence River, from his first album Little Songs. There is also a three-song mini-disc containing a live, rockier version of Butterfly from Morning Orbit; a live rendering of Forestfire, another selection from Little Songs; and an alternative version of In This Light from the new album.

"I did five versions of In This Light," says Usher. "I originally wrote it on acoustic guitar, which is what the alternate take here is, but I liked playing around with different styles. The version we eventually used was what I would say is a remix version that moves from a Nine Inch Nails kind of groove to a cappella vocals. I wanted to put a few live tracks in because we sound quite different live."

The first single and video from Hallucinations is Time Of Our Lives in which the opening line has a man lit on fire.

"It’s like when a Buddhist monk lights himself on fire but moved to Western society," says Usher.

"It’s about the ultimate moment when you are committed to something but there are no other moments afterwards."

When told that some of the ideas expressed in the album sounded Buddhist in nature, Usher says, "Well, my mom is a Buddhist but I’m more of the Generation X type. We don’t believe in nothing but we’re not willing to commit to any religion."

Usher has already started touring behind the new CD and will stay in Eastern Canada for the next few months.

He said Kingston will be on the tour probably sometime next month but a date hasn’t been confirmed yet.

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