Jewel Planning ‘Lo-Fi’ New Album
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Jewel’s current solo acoustic tour will likely influence the approach she’ll take with her next album.
The singer/songwriter told Billboard.com she’s planning to make “a really simple, kind of lo-fi record” to follow up last year’s “0304,” which took her in an unexpected dance/pop direction.
“I’ve started,” she said during a tour break in Texas. “I always write. I’m fairly prolific. I’m probably going to do a pretty simple record this next year. I’ve just been touring solo and have a lot of material I’d like to do .”
That as-yet-unscheduled next album will be the last under her deal with longtime home Atlantic Records, which is in flux in the wake of an Edgar Bronfman Jr.-led acquisition of the label’s parent company, Warner Music Group. Jewel says she’ll “have to see what the offer is” before deciding if she’ll remain with the label or decide to work with another company.
“I’m in a really unique position,” she says. “I have been since my first record. You know, I lived in a car and I was broke and I sold 11 million records on my first record . I’m not broke anymore and I have the freedom to do whatever the heck I like.”
Armed with just a guitar, Jewel will resume touring April 6 in Charlotte, N.C., and plans to be on the road in the United States through July. Along with “0304,” she is also out in support of her first concert DVD, “Live at Humphrey’s by the Bay,” released March 30 by Eagle Vision.
Recorded in 2001 in San Diego, the disc features the artist performing 13 songs, including the hits “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “Hands” and “You Were Meant For Me.” Three bonus tracks recorded elsewhere on that tour, as well as an interview, behind-the-scenes tour footage, a photo gallery and discography are also included.
“I think anything that can get you directly to a fan without a lot of middlemen is great. I prefer it,” Jewel says of the DVD. “I think I’m better live. I think my personality comes across a lot more; it’s a lot more three-dimensional format . And, really, rarely does a fan ever get to hear a person talk directly without an outside editor with some kind of agenda working on it. For this, I just think it’s a really pure format.
“That was my first night with a new band, literally our first show, so there were a lot of times, just personally, where I was going by the seat of my pants,” she remembers. “We all were!”
“0304” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 last June, and sold 619,000 copies during its 21 weeks on the chart.
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