With a few days off during a European tour, the band and I entered Maarweg Studios in Cologne, Germany, on Halloween to record my new album, Waves of Desire. During the sessions, I was calling it my “Pure Pop for Jerry People” record—a nod to Nick Lowe’s Pure Pop for Now People. Some of the “pure pop” I heard at a young age included The Everly Brothers, The Drifters, Roy Orbison, The Zombies, and my first obsession—The Beatles. Whenever I hear the Lennon-driven “Yes It Is,” I’m instantly transported back to riding in the car with my family. While my kindergarten classmates dreamed of becoming firefighters or astronauts, I only dreamed of being a musical artist. All of this music made me a dreamer and Waves of Desire is a gift to that dreamer. Now, twenty years since the release of my debut album, I find myself here with what I believe is my most vital record yet.
Maarweg began as an EMI studio in the 1950s and still has its main room virtually unchanged, with a mix of vintage and modern gear. Joining my longtime band, The Situation — Dan Mock (bass/vocals), Kyle Sullivan (drums/vocals), and Alan Zemaitis (keys/vocals) — were two friends from Solingen (near Cologne): Suzan Köcher on harmony vocals and Julian Müller (of Blackberries) on guitar. I was aiming for those Everlys-style close harmonies, and I was blown away by how well Suzan could match my vocals. With a strong vision for how I wanted the record to sound and be arranged, I chose to self- produce, with help from Müller. My approach was to make a “hug” of a record — something that gave me the same comfort I felt when listening to songs from my childhood, with an emotional depth that I relate to and love. I’m a feel guy – I need to feel the music and believe what’s being said. Those are the kinds of records I like to listen to and make.
Waves Of Desire opens with “Alcatraz”, a song about one person leaving a relationship, while the other is left in confusion. “You Don’t Have To Stay Long” has a similar narrative, they’re looking for clarification on what happened but accepting the reality (“…and next time we’ll be strangers who never slip our minds.”). “It’s So Strange” is a song of fragility, vulnerability and starting over again. In “Calling A Bluff”, I love the transitions between the Stones-y verses and power-pop choruses, which begins with “Some wisdom ain’t for keeping, some decisions have no reason.” The first side closes with “Willow Ave”, a slightly autobiographical piece of nostalgic longing. The second verse reminisces about walks with my Dad along the back roads in Toronto’s East End.
Flip the record over and you hear Kyle Sullivan count in “1-2-3-woo!” — before launching into the rambunctious title track. Kyle is my favourite drummer and I’ve been fortunate to play with him since we were nineteen. The next track, “Let Me See How It Ends” puts those close-harmonies with Suzan on full display. I think it’s one of the best songs I’ve written and it feels timeless to me. The Mellotron (a sample-based synthesizer) in the bridge section adds a layer of emotion to the song. I was inspired to use a Mellotron and other analog synthesizers to create subtle textures throughout the album. There’s a depth and breathing sensation to the Moog solo in “We’re Living In This World”. Along with Zemaitis’ gorgeous floating-in-space piano, it helps convey the disconnected feeling felt in lines like “Can you hear me over the noise and in this century?” and adds to the isolation of “Stranded.”
The album closes with “Back In Love With Me Again”, opening with the line “another day older, another job done.” After more than two decades of making records, touring and staying creative, this is still the kind of “work” I love. Waves of Desire feels like the perfect follow-up to my previous studio effort, Donlands. Produced by Mark Howard (known for his work with some of my favourites such as Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits), it is a record full of vulnerability, space and atmosphere. Waves of Desire expands on this but with more pop sensibilities and textures. I like to think it’s the record I would fantasize about making when I was a kid, and it’s the record I needed to make now. Who knows where it or I will go from here. That’s part of the journey, part of being inspired, part of the only way I know how to live.
by Jerry Leger