Indigo Girls Go It Alone For New CD
12/15/2008
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(PR) It's been two decades since the Indigo Girls launched their career with their independently released debut album, 1987's Strange Fire. Now, after entertaining millions of fans with their 10 major-label studio albums (nine on Epic Records and one, 2006's Despite Our Differences, on Hollywood Records), Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have come full circle with the independent release of their new 2-CD album, Poseidon And The Bitter Bug, on their new label IG Recordings, distributed through Vanguard Records.
The new album reunites the Grammy-winning duo with veteran producer, arranger and keyboardist Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Los Lobos and others), who worked on the Indigo Girls' acclaimed 2006 release, Despite Our Differences. Longtime bassist Clare Kenny, drummer Matt Chamberlin and engineer David Boucher make up the rest of the core band but the sound is pure Indigo Girls, with uplifting, effortless harmonies; honest, passionately involved lyrics and infectious melodies.
"Mitchell was able to build a bridge between Emily's songs and my songs more successfully than anyone we've worked with, says Ray, "he's a musicians' musician and has a very clear idea of what will work." Adds Saliers, "He likes Amy's music and he likes my music, which is not the easiest thing to find because we are so different and our songs are different."
The album was recorded in Atlanta in a whirlwind three week session – they wanted to keep a sense of spontaneity and discovery to the process. And it's the songwriting that shines on Poseidon, with the duo exploring new approaches to melody, harmonics and rhythm, especially on Saliers' "Digging For Your Dream," which she says is "as close to R&B as I've ever gotten," and Ray's "Sugar Tongue," a fevered meditation on colonialism that finds her experimenting with her higher vocal range to capture an innocence not commonly displayed by the fiery rocker.
Says Saliers, "For a band like us, it might feel inauthentic if we tried to branch out in some crazy way musically. That's why Amy makes solo records, so she can do her own thing outside of what we do together. As a unit, we do what we do and Mitchell just happens to bring the best out of it. That's a good thing at this point in our career."
One thing the Girls have done differently on Poseidon is include a second CD that features acoustic versions of all the songs, plus a bonus track, "Salty South." It's a chance for listeners to hear stripped down, organic versions of the songs – just the Girls in a room with a few mics – before the arrangements changed with the addition of the band.
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