Resurrection Man

To toke or not to toke? That was the question confronting Ian Brown as he limbered up for his fifth album, The World Is Yours.

The former Stone Roses man’s previous long players had been stoner odysseys, trips into the far reaches of euphoria and paranoia. But now he wanted to make a serious record that addressed serious issues: poverty, violence, the War On Terror. This, he concluded, would demand the ultimate sacrifice. He would fly solo, step into the clear blue daylight without his beloved weed.
“In these times you know, you’ve just got to be clear-minded,” says the singer, sprawled, legs akimbo, on the couch of a north London recording studio. “I think that everything I’ve done in the past, I’ve either written it at night or recorded it at night and I wanted everything on this album to have that early morning feel. I was up at half seven writing tunes. Everything got written before like, three or four in the afternoon. I did the same with the recording. I did it at daytime, starting at ten, finishing at eight. In the past, I’d finish at two or three in the morning. So I just wanted to see would it affect the music, would it affect the voice. You’ve got to make sacrifices. You put in what you get out.”
Truth be told, Brown is the very last person from whom you would expect a cogent critique of British and American foreign policy. As Roses frontman and a solo artist, the Manc always projected aloof disinterest: apart from the occasional rant against the British royal family (Brown is a confirmed republican) politics has rarely figured in his music.
“My wife said ‘Don’t do it. You’re just gonna get loads of grief,’” says Brown of The World Is Yours’ establishment-baiting lead single ‘Illegal Attacks’. “And I was like, ‘You’re right’ It should be a load of 20-year-olds doing it. But someone’s gotta do summit. I’m sick of watching the news every night, seeing all those people getting killed in Iraq.”
Believing a female voice would tug more powerfully at the heartstrings, Brown was keen that the chorus of ‘Illegal Attacks’ be sung by a woman.
“I needed someone who sounds great and who’s got the courage to do it. Who’s not bothered about the record sales or the flack that would come their way.”
The name came that came immediately to mind was Sinead O’Connor “I’ve always admired Sinéad,” says Brown. “She’s brilliant. As well as having the voice of an angel and looking beautiful, she’s always stood up for what she believes in. I think she’s the best lady singer since Diana Ross.”
There was a sticking point: Brown and O’Connor had never met.
“I thought, I’ve got to try and get her and when she turns me down, I’ll work my way down the list.”
When, to his amazement, she said yes, Brown jumped on the next plane to Dublin: “I flew to Windmill Lane Studios. She was cool as you like. She turned up on her own. She didn’t have any entourage. She asked could we do it between eleven and three so she could drop the kids to school and pick them up.”
Looking back, the fact Brown even has a career today seems little short of miraculous. Following the 1996 implosion of the Roses, the general presumption was that it would be guitarist John Squire, indie rock’s Hendrix and Page rolled into one, who would thrive. Brown, we assumed, would shuffle into obscurity, just another baggy has-been. In fact the opposite proved to be the case: Squire is missing presumed irrelevant; Brown, alt.pop’s self proclaimed King Monkey, is a multi-platinum arena-star.
“People used to say, ‘He’s not the best singer in the world, he won’t go anywhere.’ The other week I did two sold out nights at the G-Mex in Manchester. And a friend said to me, ‘Ian, it wasn’t supposed to be like this – where did it all go wrong?’”
Not surprisingly, then, he’s in no mood to discuss a Roses reunion, not even with a e5million payday rumoured to be on the table.
“I’m not for sale, man,” he insists. “They can wave as much money under my nose as they want. But I don’t have a price.”
Brown says ‘Illegal Attacks’ is the song of which he’s proudest in his career. In particular, he’s humbled by the reaction he’s received from soldiers on the frontline in the War On Terror.
“A pal of mine’s been in the army for 22 years. He’s been in Afghanistan. He said, ‘I love your record.’ I’ve had a few emails from soldiers saying the same. I’ve even had an email from a guy in the Israeli Air-Force. I’ve had a lot of ex-soldiers writing to me saying, ‘Yeah, I’ve been out there – and I don’t know what we’re doing there either.’”

The World Is Yours is out now on Polydor