Q&A: With Guesswork, Lloyd Cole's trial-and-error process pays off
Credit to Author: Shawn Conner| Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:00:07 +0000
When: Feb. 2 at 8 p.m.
Where: Rio Theatre
Tickets and info: $29.50, at ticketweb.ca
Lloyd Cole first made a splash in 1984 with his band The Commotions and their debut album Rattlesnakes. Since parting with the band after album No. 3, the UK-raised singer/songwriter has gone the solo route, releasing a string of rock/folk/pop records as well as ambient albums.
His well-reviewed latest, Guesswork, combines sterling pop-craft with his experimental electronic leanings. We asked the 58-year-old musician about the new record, his latest tour, and why he doesn’t miss the era of the CD maxi-single.
Q: You recently played some shows in Australia and New Zealand with Commotions guitarist Neil Clark. Is he coming to Vancouver with you?
A: I wish. I did all of the concerts last year with Neil. He’s actually based in Toronto, so it would be semi-feasible for him to come to Vancouver. But he can’t do any of the other West Coast dates I’m doing on this tour. This tour was put together very last minute, and there wasn’t enough time or budget to get a work visa for him.
Q: How does that affect the shows?
A: What I tend to do, even when I’m solo, is talk a little more in the first set, and make it a little more esoteric, digging out some songs that people haven’t heard for awhile, or don’t expect me to play. And then, in the second set, I try to make sure I cover most of the songs people want to hear.
Q: Many of the reviews of Guesswork say the album has an ‘80s sound. Was this what you were going for, or just what’s in the ear of the listener?
A: I think it’s slightly lazy reviewing. Some of the sounds and instruments are synthesizers invented in the ‘80s, so they came to prominence then. But there’s also Fender Telecasters, and it’s not a ‘50s-sounding record. The people whose opinions I trust don’t think it’s a retro record. I don’t think it’s a retro record. I think it’s a sound I haven’t tried to make before. It certainly has connotations to all kinds of music. There’s a song that sounds like (‘80s synth-duo) Yazoo. I hadn’t intended that.
Q: What was the initial idea or spark for the record?
A: The initial spark is that I have an idea that I can make a record that can work in a manner that certain records I know from other artists work that I’ve never tried to do. I was thinking about The Idiot by Iggy Pop with David Bowie, and Scott Walker’s third album, maybe his album from 1984 (Climate of Hunter) as well, with kind of an abstract soundscape to some songs where I would have to find the sounds to make the idea work.
I knew there was going to be an awful lot of trial and error involved; it wouldn’t just be, “Okay, this is going to be piano over here.” And even after that point, I wasn’t sure my voice would work in that environment. But, in my opinion, everything worked out pretty well. I’m very pleased with the record.
Q: Back in the days of The Commotions and your early solo records, you released a lot of songs that ended up just on singles. Do you miss the era of the B-side?
A: No I don’t miss that at all. We never got paid for a single B-side we ever recorded. I remember that when I made Love Story in 1994 the record company (Rykodisc) was so obsessed with doing CD singles and maxi-singles that they wanted three extra tracks for every single.
I basically had to record an extra album’s worth of material to have three singles from that record. The second album’s worth of material, I did not get paid for. So I can see how it’s nice to look back on that period. But I don’t have the greatest memory of B-sides. We made some pretty cool ones but we also made some s****y ones.
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