Phair considers Soberish the most ambitious project in her catalogue since her self-titled LP from Practically overnight, the darling of indie-rock was suddenly label-mates with Neil Diamond and Coldplay. Depending on which sector of her fanbase you ask, Liz Phair is either a top-notch collection of pop-rock anthems or a glaring stain on her artistic legacy. The eponymous album saw her lean into her pop sensibilities more transparently than ever before. Perhaps naysayers are pissed that the public has chosen to make Morissette a star instead of the critically lauded Liz Phair.
Phair even ended up opening for Morissette on her Junkie tour. I came standing on the shoulders of the greats, and so did Alanis. After the tour wraps in November, Phair plans on finishing the sequel to her memoir Horror Stories.
While that book focused on the darker, often traumatic chapters of her life and career, Fairy Tales will be its antithesis. I had really happy times there, and I had really sad times there.
A lot of selves have lived in Chicago. Even in L. But, in Chicago, my life and my circumstances changed a lot. I just went to concerts. When I got into music myself, I brought my angry Oberlin self, my college self, to it. Those two worlds did not mix at all. I can look to the semester that I took off from Oberlin and went to the Art Institute, for instance, and how lonely and weird I was then.
Or I can look at my preppy self in junior high and think about my Fair Isle sweaters and duck boots and my wide-wale corduroys, and the person that I was. I can look to Lincoln Park and the mom that I was when I was first raising my son and trying to be this perfect mommy type and do everything right and cook and be married. Or the person who got famous and lived in Wicker Park and was a polarizing figure in a very tight music scene. Sheridan Road is an artery.
Sheridan Road was always something I had to contend with. Travelling it feels like travelling through time. Sometimes driving a certain road can bring back so many different memories. I wanted to talk to you about how your relationship to your voice has evolved over the years. You sound so good on this record. That makes me feel so good. I have to hand it to Brad. He prefers off-the-cuff Liz, which you hear a lot. There was R. Bowie was a big influence.
The Furs, the Specials, English Beat. A lot of the songs I know all the words to are not cool songs, but the stories in them made me the songwriter I am today. You have such a unique vantage on the music industry, having been active for three decades, having worked with both indie and major labels, having watched as the record business was forced to remake itself more than once.
There was a gatekeeper mentality that we all had to live under in the nineties, both on radio and at labels. You had to be conniving to truly trick the system.
It was tougher and it was rougher. And it was certainly not politically correct—there were a lot of tradesies going on. That kind of bullshit was just par for the course. Then the whole thing dropped.
First, the majors got less and less adventurous—the pointy tower of gatekeepers became even steeper to climb. Then came the big acts of the two-thousands—Britney Spears, the big boy bands. But, lo and behold, in this sort of less-money, less-competitive area, so many more flowers sprang up. It was almost like composting. There were these huge acts that were popular, and they were raining down shit in their wake, and we were taking those little opportunities and making the most out of our gardens.
Then, all of a sudden, Guyville turned into Girlville, and there were just women everywhere, making their own artistic statements with their music. It all feels thought out from start to finish, and it feels as if they were in control of that.
We were in control of nothing. I would not get too comfortable, personally. We may be living through a wonderful time for women, but it may change again. I like this guy. This is my pal. This is my friend. I do not get the sense that we have, in any way, forestalled the verticality of money and power.
And if we can connect with our fans directly that affords us some power. Few albums better capture being young, brave, and brilliantly obnoxious. It made her a star. Criticism always trailed her — she was too middle-class, too vocal about wanting to make money, too unapologetic about her sex life — but it became more vitriolic once she ventured outside of indie-rock. Pop melodies always underpinned her work — a box set of early, pre- Guyville demos released in only drove that home — but it was viewed as a betrayal.
Then she retreated, mainly to compose scores for TV shows. Her jangly, introspective new album Soberish is her first record in 11 years.
It only happened because everyone else seemed to be dropping like flies. Are you making the work now that you would want to leave behind if it were your last? For her new album, she reunited with Brad Wood, who produced Exile in Guyville. We knew we had to get that back and, 25 years later, stumble into a new sound while using these familiar building blocks. Soberish is named after that lightly sozzled feeling that grants you just the right amount of swagger. A decade spent reissuing past albums and considering her legacy has also made her a bit nostalgic.
It resembles her place in the music industry today. We connect on social media, and they give me props and I give them admiration.
Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a day free trial.
0コメント