An Interview with Chantal Kreviazuk

Singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk is set to release her fifth and latest studio LP, Plain Jane, next month as a deluxe edition on iTunes. Originally issued in her native Canada last fall, the album received neither a proper release nor much publicity in the States. As Kreviazuk explains, “It’s a lot for me to do a Canadian promotion with my family and then go out and also promote it in the U.S.”

In addition to the music she's written and recorded for her own albums, she's earned a reputation as a much-sought-after composer and collaborator for other artists as well, having worked with the likes of Faith Hill, Mandy Moore, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood on their respective projects. Asked how she approaches songwriting and if when she's composing does she have an intended artist in mind, she says, “Every way you can imagine songs getting written, that’s how I write them. It’s a plethora of reasons and strategies. I’m a song peddler now to a certain degree.”

You’ve had a lot of success in the past with song placement in television and film. Are you optimistic about getting your music heard today and going into the future?

I’m optimistic, but I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t think you do a painting and then stare at it on the wall. You do your thing and you hope for the best. And you hope you have the right team around you that’s going to try to get your music out there to people. Sometimes songs are not discovered until years later. Who knows? I don’t like to think about it all the time.

Music is always changing, too. There’s always been a shadow and someone in the limelight. And there are only one or two spots for that big place. That’s obviously a strike of lightning for whoever’s there. I think it would be naturally negative to be constantly obsessing, really, with whether the music’s getting heard or who’s hearing it or how they’re hearing it. So you try to hire a team around you that is genuinely passionate about what you do and [that] is genuinely trying to seek out ways for your music to be heard. That’s all I can do.

You’ve always seemed to have a pragmatic approach to songwriting. You’re not a celebrity trying to score the latest hit; you’re more of a craftsman.

Yeah, I’m not really trying to hit you over the head and wear a bubble dress and play the piano and make you think that that makes me any more of a human being or insightful or genuine or worth looking at. I think what I’m doing is more therapeutic. It’s meant more to be part of the landscape of life. It’s not meant to be the sun or the star. It’s just not. That’s how I am comfortable as a soul. I also don’t believe that I’m comfortable with the idea, quite generally, that any one human being is more important than another. To be that ambitious and desire having that much spotlight on yourself, you do believe that you have something worth showing that everyone else does not. And that’s just not who I am. My music is coming out of me because the person I am is trying to say to everybody else, “We’re all equal.” That’s not to say people like a Madonna or someone else, that they don’t think that deep down, but they’re projecting that they want to come out of the shadows more than other people.

And I think that in the real world where people really struggle, life is generally a shadow and they’re trying to find a ray of sunshine. Life is hard and it actually, for me, is a little bit of a difficult pill to swallow when I see that others are escaping into someone else’s sunshine. I actually find that dark. Or that they are watching someone, idolizing, thinking, God I wish I could be them up there right now. Because I know a lot of the “thems” and they ’re not any happier than those who are coming out of the shadows. I seek out the shadows. I seek out trying to have insight into people’s suffering. I seek out my own empathy for life and for others. That’s what sort of makes me tick as a human being.

It’s like you would rather write a really good song than try to contrive a hit song.
Yeah, and I even try to bring that humanness into every [recording] session. You can always hear the angst and the dissonance and the yearning in my music. That’s never, ever allowed to go anywhere. I wish we could revolutionize pop music a little bit and have yearning and awareness and mindfulness in our songs again like we did in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I miss it… Now we work from a very technological point of view and a lot of it is lost. The deepest things out there in mainstream music are things like Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” and Sarah Bareilles’ “King of Anything.” Those are what would now be considered not really über-poppy. [Laughs] And those are poppy songs, man! Come on! It’s a different time.

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Album Review: Mandy Moore - Amanda Leigh

Nearly two years since the release of Wild Hope, an inspired and impressive album that signaled a new beginning in her music career, Mandy Moore continues to progress as an artist, summoning a thoroughly engaging and precocious pop record with Amanda Leigh.

Impressionable melodies and layered harmonies abound, complementing an eclectic assortment of songs. Standouts include the lush serenity of “Merrimack River,” the offbeat whimsicality of “Pocket Philosopher,” and the utter irresistibility of “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week.”

Whereas Wild Hope represented Moore having found her own creative voice, Amanda Leigh reveals her far more secure in expressing that voice. By enlivening compelling, often-quirky songs while exploring imaginative sounds and melodies, she has delivered her best album to date.

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Concert Review: Mandy Moore Underwhelms at Jannus Landing

Earlier this year, Mandy Moore signaled her ascent into the realm of singer/songwriters, releasing Wild Hope, an ambitious album on which she co-wrote every track. Unfortunately, on Tuesday night at Jannus Landing, Moore’s live showcase of that album, along with a few other songs, proved underwhelming.

On tour for the first time in earnest, Mandy Moore appeared out of her depth in translating her recorded music to a live concert setting. For most of the show, she stayed put behind her microphone stand and offered only sparing comments to the crowd, ultimately failing to engage the audience. At times she seemed more intent on getting through the show rather than putting on a show.

Beginning with “Slummin’ In Paradise” and “All Good Things,” two of Wild Hope’s strongest tracks, the concert initially seemed promising and, even further along in the show, Moore offered inspired performances. Her voice in fine form, she sounded best on songs like “Can’t You Just Adore Her?” and the ethereal gem, “Gardenia,” which brought the singer to tears.

The glaring flaw in the performance, regrettably, rested in her remote demeanor. While her mere presence elicited cries of “I love you, Mandy” from young, teenage girls, as well as from older, college-aged boys (underscoring two completely different sentiments, mind you), her ability to interact with the audience seemed awkward, if not amateurish. She often spoke to her band members and occasionally introduced a song, but she rarely thanked the audience for its applause or enthusiasm. Mostly, though, she looked genuinely uncomfortable in her role as a concert performer.

She concluded the set with a slow rearrangement of Rihanna’s hit single, “Umbrella,” as well as a revamped version of one of her own past hits, “Candy”. The latter song, she inexplicably conceded, held no sentimental value for her whatsoever, despite the crowd’s palpable desire to hear it. That moment, more than any other of the night, symbolized the disconnect between Mandy Moore and the hundreds of fans who attended her show. While some allowance should be given for her live inexperience, the audience did its best to embrace Moore, but she unfortunately neglected to do the same with her audience.

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Mandy Moore Comes of Age

Mandy Moore has fared better as an actress than as a singer. However, if her latest album, Wild Hope, is a harbinger of things to come, her music career shows considerable promise.

Once a teen-pop princess who sang material virtually indistinguishable from her peers, Mandy Moore now sounds like a maturing young woman following her own intuition and muse. Her departure from prefabricated pop began with her previous album, Coverage, on which she interpreted songs by such accomplished singer/songwriters as Carly Simon, Joe Jackson, and Todd Rundgren. Subsequently, on Wild Hope, Moore had a hand in writing each song on the album.

Much of Wild Hope, with its lush string arrangements and vocal harmonies, sounds refreshing and, at the same time, reminiscent of music made in the heyday of Laurel Canyon by Carole King and the Mamas and the Papas. Moore's voice, which has deepened with age, resonates especially well on "Can't You Just Adore Her?" and the sparse title track.

By leaps and bounds, though, the standout song on this album is "Gardenia." Co-written with Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, it merely features sad piano chords and Moore's soaring voice. The lyrics seem abstract if read on paper, but in the context of the song they yield the overall theme of the album: self-discovery. "It's been good/Getting to know me more," Moore sings in the refrain. With Wild Hope, Mandy Moore successfully conveys her individuality and ambition through song, which should bode well for her future in music.

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