Friday March 20, 2009
Fell on groovy days
By N. RAMA LOHAN
Nary a blemish – that’s the Chris Cornell way, be it in Soundgarden or Audioslave. The singer-songwriter looks to carry on with that tradition on his third solo album, Scream.
CAN you blame the male population for being green with envy over Chris Cornell? The man’s got a knack for writing infectious melodies, engaging lyrics and has one of the most distinctive voices coupled with one of the most natural vocal abilities in the business. And he doesn’t even have the good grace to be ugly!
And let’s not get started with the women folk ... they just love the former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman. While frontrow seats and standing spaces at rock concerts tend to be the domain of the testosterone-fuelled, Cornell’s shows tend to be dominated by the fairer sex.
Strange bedfellows: Chris Cornell and album producer Timbaland (left), are the forces behind the Scream album. But for the 44-year-old, the glitz and glamour of the rock star world barely gets him all wide-eyed. “I’m not one of those rock stars who pursued other stuff. I’m no race car driver, astronaut or athlete ... music is the most important thing to me, apart from my family,” declares the singer during a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles.
Cornell is clearly brimming with enthusiasm. His third solo album, Scream, has just come off the assembly line and is ready to be stocked at record stores the world over. The album’s first single Part of Me is already making its rounds over the airwaves.
There may be concerns over Cornell’s new direction from die-hard fans, but one listen to Part of Me, and this new electronic pursuit seems to make perfect sense. Beatmaker of the hour, Timbaland (who produced Scream), is hip-hop’s hottest property (Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, etc) today and he has his production stamp all over the song – squelchy synth bass lines and strings, choir vocal backing and 1980s-approved drum machine beats. Yet, in this haze of synthetic instrumentation, Cornell’s voice cuts through like a hot knife through butter.
“He (Timbaland) can do anything!” Cornell was quoted as saying in Brit music mag NME earlier this month. “He’ll make a beat out of anything – banging on a wall, hitting a box. In the second day in the studio, a bunch of people came in with pots and pans and spatulas from the kitchen and we set them up with amps and stuff. That ended up on the album.”
If Cornell’s debut Euphoria Morning was an attempt at simply writing pleasing melodies and great songs, then the second, Carry On, was a distinct step to add a decidedly heavy rock feel. Scream looks to be unchartered waters, once again. Judging from Part of Me, this should all be a pleasant surprise.
Cornell himself feels that it’s his best effort to date. “I don’t think there is a central theme or anything like that ... musically, it’s not really tied down to any specific genre ... and it certainly doesn’t sound like anyone else,” he asserts. In all fairness, nobody sounds like Cornell, whether he sings rock or otherwise, and Part of Me certainly has his distinct personality on it.
“I think there is always that expectation of fuzzy guitars, rock beats and singing from me. I think the album has brought out my influences.”
Cornell concedes that as much as he likes the classic rock singers of yore (citing Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin), he also listens to a lot of R&B and soul singers, which he says, “is what my favourite rock singers listened to.”
“It’s a one album idea, not your typical remix album. I feel it takes the listener through one passage of moods to another,” he shares, referencing Pink Floyd’s The Wall and even Queen’s A Night at the Opera, Bohemian Rhapsody, in particular.
Cornell’s attempt at working out of the box has altered his creative process but from his explanation, it seems like he’s taken to it like fish to water. “Timbaland brings in the beats and I usually have some lyrics and melodies tucked away. Sometimes, he would have some melody ideas, too. Basically, I would sit in a corner and work on writing the lyrics and vocal melody. We write and record as we go along. I was doing this a lot from home and I slowly got used to it. This is completely different from writing a rock record where you write the songs and rehearse it until it fits with the whole band.”
A working arrangement of this nature allowed many of the songs to grow along the way as numerous other touches were added to it. “When it was needed, we added more guitars, synths, live percussion ... and there was even some marching drum equipment lying around which we put to good use.”
Elsewhere, Eastern beats, processed guitars and a distinct pop buoyancy keeps Take Me Alive bubbling nicely. The track, interestingly, features pop star Justin Timberlake in the backdrop and it fells like a spontaneous studio collaboration.
Quoting an example, Cornell likened this album very much to making a Clash album, where everything is done fast. “It’s definitely not a Mutt Lange record,” he laughs, acknowledging Lange’s renowned over-elaborate studio methods, in particular, his works with Def Leppard and The Cars, among others.
Working with an unknown entity – in this case, Timbaland for Cornell – didn’t bring about any issues between artist and producer. “We never really disagree on things. Timbaland never gives instructions on how a melody should go ... he usually brings a beat and a mood to the table. There was only one song where he wasn’t too convinced about my transition from verse to chorus. It just didn’t work and we left that song out. Though I still think it’s a great song,” he says, cracking up.
Much of Cornell’s formative years were spent listening to The Beatles records and in previous interviews, he’s always professed his love for the Fab Four. “I think timing has a lot to do with how these things influence you. It was a lonely period in my life where I spent time listening to all the Beatles albums ... it’s not just the music but a sound and a style that influences. I used to listen to the Beatles over and over. I remember not being able to tell between John (Lennon) and Paul’s (McCartney) voices.”
The average Cornell fan can range from those who devoured his Soundgarden years and those who fancied his Audioslave career. “There’s no real way to distinguish the different fans I have. I think the biggest challenge is getting people to recognise that it’s me ... be it on a Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave or any of my solo records,” the friendly, yet focused singer offers.
So, is today’s music scene more about re-invention than staying the same for recognition purposes? “It’s about both, really. You have to create an identity and a persona. These days it’s about the Internet and communicating via it. Of course, there’s good and bad to that. Now, you can record a song and immediately get people to hear it by putting it on the Internet ... record company people, DJs and listeners can all just pick up on it,” Cornell says, also recognising the role of community sites like MySpace and Facebook. “I still recall making tapes and passing them to friends to listen and get feedback from,” he laughs, fondly reminiscing his younger days.
Musical pursuits aside and despite Trent Reznor’s recent public attack on Scream, what keeps Cornell in Zen balance is his relationship with his wife, Vicky. “My wife and family definitely keep things in check for me. I have a very close relationship with my wife, and that’s important, I think,” he confesses.
The face of popular music is an every-changing one, but there are some constants in life, like Cornell’s innate ability to write fantastic songs. Scream could just be what the doctor ordered.
Chris Cornell’s Scream is released by Universal Music Malaysia.
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