New Step for Badly Drawn Boy
Without a new album to promote, Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn
Boy, is making the rounds in the U.S. without the obligatory
constraints that come with touring, like set lists that tilt toward
the most recent album and an itinerary that bounces from one major
market to the next.
“I wanted this tour to be more relaxed,” Gough says. “It’s kind
of just coming back to say hello because it’s been a year since I
played out here. I’m playing a lot of places I’ve never played
before, which is quite nice: Albany, Brooklyn, Rochester.”
And while he isn’t plugging a release, Gough is using the
opportunity to road-test some material that will appear on his
fourth album, due in the spring. Gough has been working on the
album on and off since the release of Have You Fed the
Fish? last year. After working with producer Tom Rothrock
(Beck, Elliott Smith) on his first three records, Gough chose to
hunker down for the fourth with his friend and partner in the
Twisted Nerve label Andy Votel. They are recording in Manchester,
England, this time, not Los Angeles.
“The time just felt right to stay near home,” Gough says. “I
just woke up one morning and thought we needed a break. Not that we
weren’t getting on. Just that we had made three in a row, and I can
always make a record with Tom. It fascinates me, how the choice of
location has an effect on the ultimate sound of the record. If I
had worked in Los Angeles again, I would’ve made a different
record. And it may have been the best record ever, but I think this
one is probably my best record yet, as long as I get the order
right.”
More than half of the record is mixed, and Gough and Votel are
now in the process of finding that right order. The tour might also
have some influence on the album’s final song selection. Initially
planned as a solo acoustic jaunt, Gough ended up bringing the
album’s bassist and drummer along, though they only make sporadic
appearances on stage. “I wanted them for company as much as
anything,” he says, “and then just have some fun and play the
music. I do most of the show solo, but then I’m bringing the guys
on when we feel like playing one of the new songs. It’s a strange
thing, some songs are really exciting immediately, others are a
battle to get right. But it’s exciting to be airing them on the
road, when they’re not even out of the studio yet.”
Among the new cuts being considered for the new album is
“Another Devil’s Eyes,” which — like other Badly Drawn Boy songs
(“Something to Talk About,” “Magic in the Air”) — features a bit
of Bacharachian melodic influence. “It started out wanting to sound
like mariachi trumpets,” he says. “But I didn’t like it in that
world, so I re-dressed it and played it on piano. I like a bit of
cheese, and Burt’s not afraid to be a little gratuitous with
melody. That’s kind of where I live in my head with music — I’m a
sucker for melody.”
And while Gough describes that song as one of the more elaborate
ones, he thinks the overall album will be a bit quieter than his
previous efforts. “I really wanted this album to be the most
minimal I’ve made,” he says. “It’s still got my hallmarks, but it’s
definitely not as grand as Fish. I feel different, I feel
more mature, and I think it sounds like a more mature record.”