Dan Wilson Mulling More Semisonic
Anyone who listened to rock radio in the late Nineties will be familiar Semisonic‘s 1998 hit “Closing Time.” The band released three hyper-catchy albums including the platinum-selling Feeling Strangely Fine before going on hiatus after 2001’s All About Chemistry. Frontman Dan Wilson went on to pursue a solo career and co-write hits like Adele‘s “Someone Like You” and the Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice.” “I’ve written with some truly brilliant artists,” he tells Rolling Stone. “That’s something that I didn’t really foresee.”
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But Wilson’s not closing the door on Semisonic. “It wasn’t a planned-out thing,” he says of their hiatus. “And I get together with John [Munson] and Jake [Slichter] periodically and we do shows and we hang out. I’m not closing any doors.”
He’s even considering another album with the band. “I think that would be cool,” Wilson says. “I just have to figure out how to do that kind of song, and it might not be that complicated to figure that out. . . I think it needs to be different [from my solo work]. There’s a particular chemistry or personality or vibe that happens with those guys.”
Wilson was just nominated for the Grammy’s Album of the Year category for his work on Taylor Swift’s Red. Lately, he’s been co-writing with Florence Welch and the Civil Wars’ Joy Williams. He’s also gearing up to release his second solo LP – check out the lyric video to his single “Disappearing” with Wilson’s illustrations – and playing solo shows, telling the stories behind his biggest songs. “I don’t get tired of singing [“Closing Time”], actually,” he says. “I used to go see my favorite new artists when I was younger and they wouldn’t play their hits. They’d make some remark about how their hit wasn’t cool or something, and I’d always be so annoyed. I feel kind when I have a song that’s done well, I don’t develop any kind of resentments about my material. I just feel like ‘Wow, how did I get so lucky?'”
Wilson says the Semisonic reunion might happen after he tours in support of his solo LP. “Maybe that will be the next crazy step – who knows?” he says. “And I think that’s a good sign that I find it very interesting to think about.”