Retriever

Greetings – I wanted to share some insight into my new release, Retriever. It was recorded mostly in London last August during what the papers were calling “The BIG Heatwave of 2003”. I’m not sure if the weather played a role in the making of this record but I CAN tell you that much of Ed Harcourt’s excellent piano playing was recorded while in his underwear. As you may notice I’ve teamed up with (producer) Martin Terefe again. Unlike the previous record though, this one has more of an up-tempo, electric feel to it, and on a few of the tracks I think I’ve finally figured out how to write a chorus!! It also features (along with Martin’s Swedish pals) a couple of those TRAVIS boys were around (that’s Neil on drums on a couple of tracks). Lyrically, the album jumps around quite a bit, so I thought I’d go through them briefly, if that’s okay.

• HARD BARGAIN is one part love song, one part letter to God…
• IMAGINARY FRIENDS is a sort of cautionary children’s song…
• NOT ABOUT TO LOSE is a pretty straightforward track about, um, defiance I guess…
• TOMORROW IN HER EYES is a love song that features another attempt by me on piano…
• FROM NOW ON is a song about vigilance in an age of fear mongering “Prop-Agenda”…
• FOR THE DRIVER is a simple hymn like tune about forgiveness and seeing another point of view…
• WISHING WELLS is more of a rocker written after a night of shockingly bad television…
• WHATEVER IT TAKES is a kind of tribute to Bill Withers (one of my heroes) and lyrically it’s about trying hard not to screw up a good thing…
• DANDELION WINE is a very bittersweet tune, and more confessional than I normally like to get but felt it necessary to write somehow…
• HAPPINESS kicks around the idea of pursuing something we’re already in possession of…
• HOW ON EARTH is one of the most romantic songs I’ve ever written (probably not for the cynical)…
• And lastly, I KNOW IT WELL is a direct lyric about reassurance…

Well, that’s about it for now, I hope my first attempt at writing album notes have been helpful and that you like what you hear. Whenever I send out a new album, I’m always hoping it’ll bring me back some good luck or good news, which is partly why I’ve decided to call this one Retriever so there ya go.

All the best in 2004,

Ron Sexsmith

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