No Half Measures

Dan Wilson, frontman with Minneapolis trio Semisonic, sounds remarkably fresh for a rock 'n' roll star at the ungodly hour of 9am, New York time, and it has nothing to do with narcotic pick-me-ups.

"Now that I've got a three-year old daughter, I'm an earlier kind of a bird," he laughs.

In fact the frontman sounds positively chipper, and why wouldn't he be? The band's third album, All About Chemistry is in the bag, an expectant public awaits, and meanwhile Semisonic are about to tour this part of the world with Texas.

Having enjoyed massive success with their last album, Feeling Strangely Fine, I wondered if Wilson and his cohorts felt any extra pressure when it came to making this one?

Wilson is refreshingly honest with his reply: "There was definitely more pressure," he muses, "albeit a different kind of pressure from what I would have expected. I didn't really think about what single could come after 'Closing Time' or 'Secret Smile' but I did feel like this record had to be really great. I also felt that because of our success, the landscape around us had changed. I felt that we could embrace any sound we wanted to make and not be shy.

"Previously, I had a very do-it-yourself indie-rock mentality and we have been flung out of that world completely. Instead of regretting that, I decided to embrace that change and make an album that was broader in its sound, and to use some instruments that maybe I wouldn't have thought were acceptable for us before, like the trombones on 'Chemistry' [the first single from the album]."

While the scope of All About Chemistry is definitely bigger than before, the songs remain highly accessible and Wilson's compositions seem grounded in a traditional songwriting sensibility.

"I think a lot of pop music, at least in the States, is songs that just function as jingles for the artist's career," ventures Wilson. "Songs whose message is 'Here I come, I'm coming to getcha, I'm really cool, I'm about to put out my record, You're gonna buy it, You're gonna love me cos I kick ass'. I've always found that kind of song incredibly bland.

"That is one thing that holds all of our songs together, my drive to create songs that almost float free of us, the creators, and assume a life of their own. Luckily, we have a sound that we can't help making, which prevents it from sounding anonymous."

While the songs themselves are very listener-friendly and firmly inhabit the pop pantheon, the lyrics are not all 'boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after'.

"I think this album has the blues a little bit," muses the frontman. "With Feeling Strangely Fine, I was in a disastrous personal situation. When the dust settles and you find you're still standing, some people experience a kind of exhilaration, an intense heightened awareness.

"All About Chemistry is, in a way, more direct. The dust hasn't settled and all of the conflict, the unhappiness and happiness are still mixed together and interacting. It's not about conclusions being drawn. Some of the songs do have a lot of anguish in them and that's because things aren't being resolved."

A fine example of this and one of the album's standout tracks, 'One True Love' was co-written with legendary chanteuse Carole King. I wondered was she a musical idol of Wilson's when he was growing up?

"Yeah, definitely," he says. "I had asked around for everyone to keep their eyes open for someone for me to collaborate with that was outside this modern rock sphere. When a friend of mine said that he had talked to Carole King about this and she had agreed, I was amazed, because I didn't expect it to be someone of that stature. Working with her was wonderful. We wrote a couple of songs together and it was a very inspiring experience in a lot of ways."

Wilson's musical world now includes Ireland and he is looking forward to Semisonic's second visit to these shores, when they play the Point with Texas on February 16th, which should exorcise the demons of their debut Dublin performance.

"We played several years ago to about 25 people, in a small club called Whelan's - I still wear the t-shirt all the time. It was a great show but nobody was there," recalls Wilson with a wry chuckle. "This time round, I think it'll be a different story."

Semisonic play The Point with Texas on February 16th, which is also the release date for 'Chemistry'. All About Chemistry follows on March 2nd.