Alejandro Escovedo teamed up with producer Tony Visconti and came to us in late 2008 to record his album, Real Animal. One morning while we were having coffee in the lounge, Al turned to me and remarked, "This place is fantastic for us. If I have my way, I want to record all of my albums here from now on." Since then, the band's lineup changed, Alejandro's management changed, and so did the label he was signed to. True to his word, though, when it came time to record again, I got a phone call and Alejandro brought his new album to us to track.
Tony Visconti produced Alejandro's last album here and it was clear that he was a perfect fit for the band. They hired him to produce again and this time around, he requested that our very own Tim Price be given the role of engineer for the project. The band hit the road and toured for weeks on the new material before they came to the studio. They ended their run of dates at Headliner's in Louisville (an hour away from here). When we saw them play that night, it was clear that the band was at the top of their game and the songs were well polished. The day after the show, the band rolled into the studio, Tony flew in from London, and everybody took a while to get re-acquainted with The Claire. After loading in and a good night's rest, the next day kicked off a whirlwind of activity that lasted for the next two weeks.
Without giving too much away, I can honestly say that this album is unabashedly straight-forward. Alejandro even explained to me on the phone months before they showed up that he was taking a simpler approach to his music, and that was no understatement. That certainly doesn't mean that the material is any less powerful. In fact, the songs are so packed full of imagery and emotion that bigger arrangements would have only gotten in the way. Most of the songs are traditional rock guitar/bass/drums and they made it a point to do minimal overdubs during the process of recording.
The band was so incredibly tight and the material was so well rehearsed that we ran through the basics at an unprecedented rate. Everyone was in such high spirits about working together, about the music they were producing, and about being here in our studio, it was hard to part ways when the session was over. We were admittedly a little sad that we don't get to host the mixing of the album here, but knowing that the tracks left our building to go into the capable hands of Bob Clearmountain kinda took the edge off. This session is going to go down in our books as one of the best experiences any of us could have and that none of us will ever forget.
Watch for the album due out early this summer! It's going to be crazy-good!
(Lots more photos of the session to be seen here.)
Monday, February 22, 2010
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