ALO is not a band that dwells in the past. They are always moving forward. Always striving to discover new ideas. Always looking to go on new adventures. Their latest adventure, Man of the World (released on Brushfire Records), finds the Cali collective flexing their considerable creative powers to craft their finest album yet. Recorded almost entirely live, the 11-song collection is the sound of four players who have truly found their groove together. This is ALO at their most natural, their most organic and their most pure. Man of the World is the next level for ALO.
Man of the World was engineered by the band’s steady studio partner Dave Simon-Baker and produced by none other than Jack Johnson, a longtime friend and musical collaborator. The singer/songwriter/producer was a natural fit with ALO. “It felt like he joined the band for the album,” drummer Dave Brogan admits. “He was very hands on. If he thought he could add something to a track, he was willing to go for it. And we were more than happy to let him.”
For the recording, the quartet packed their bags, said goodbye to their friends and families, and headed off to Johnson’s home studio on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The weather was perfect, the vibe was relaxed, and the locals laid back. It was the change in scenery they all needed. “It was everything I hoped for,” bassist Steve Adams acknowledges. “It was a fresh environment, a great change-up from our normal routine.”
As they always have, they shared the songwriting and the vocal duties. Though all four members came to the studio with arrangements and parts of songs fleshed out, everything got scrambled as soon as everyone was together. “There was a real workshop vibe,” guitarist Lebo affirms. “Arrangements were being torn apart and put back together in ways nobody could have imagined. It was sort of a Humpty Dumpty vibe out there, but this time all the king’s horses and all the kings’ men did put Humpty back together again. And he came out much better because of it.”
The band had traditionally built their songs up track by track, but they abandoned that approach for a rawer, more organic, one. “In the days before digital recording and endless tracks, when musicians were confined to two or four tracks, this is how it was done,” keyboardist Zach Gill explains. “Musicians had to play together at the same time and get it right. A great performance meant that everybody got it right at the same time. I’ve always felt that you can hear the difference in recordings made this way. You actually get to hear the sound of people in a room making something together. Not an artificial simulation.”
Songs that sprang out of the band’s new recording approach span the sonic spectrum in classic ALO fashion. Collectively, the songs of Man of the World reveal the story of four friends taking an intensely personal journey together. It is the sound of a band living, creating, loving and growing together. It is the sound of ALO.
01. Suspended
02. States of Friction
03. Man of the World
04. Put Away the Past
05. I Wanna Feel It
06. Big Appetite
07. Gardener's Grave
08. Time & Heat
09. The Country Electro
10. The Champ
11. I Love Music
Zach Gill - piano, wurlitzer, clavinet, moog, guitar, toys, vocals
Lebo - guitars, pedal steel, weissenborn, mandola, vocals
Steve Adams - bass, steel drum, moog, banjo, vocals
Dave Brogan - drums, congas, percussion, glockenspiel, wurlitzer, guitar, vocals
Produced by ALO & Jack Johnson
Engineered & Recorded by Dave Simon-Baker
Mixed & Mastered by Robert Carranza
Recorded @ The Mango Tree on Oahu, HI in April 2009
Guest Musicians:
Jack Johnson - congas, tambourine, glockenspiel, guitar, vocals on “Man of the World”, “Gardener’s Grave”, “Time & Heat”, “The Champ”
Paula Fuga - b.vocals on “Put Away the Past”
Jaden Gill - b.vocals on “The Champ”
Moe Johnson - toy sampler on “The Champ”
Additional Recording @ Mission Bells in San Francisco, CA on “I Love Music” / Leboland in San Francisco, CA on “I Wanna Feel It”, “Big Appetite”, “I Love Music”, “Put Away the Past” / The Creativity Lounge in Santa Barbara, CA on “States of Friction”
All music written by ALO except “Man of the World”, “Gardener’s Grave”, “Big Appetite” and “Time & Heat” written by ALO & Jack Johnson
All music published by Stereo Cricket Publishing, Belle Vie Music, Ruebarb Songs, Montana de Oro Publishing and Sleep Through The Static Music (ASCAP)
01. Maria
02. Empty Vessel (A Pledge of No Allegiance)
03. Try
04. Roses & Clover
05. Monday
06. Shine
07. Plastic Bubble
08. All Alone
09. Lady Loop
10. Water Song
The inspired session produced ten gloriously infectious tunes that cruise through the classic American soundscape from roots rock to bluesy jazz with a hint of 70s disco. Listen closely and you will hear a guitar that Dan rewired to conjure a sound that mixes Studio One with Motown, or Zach toying with the voice mutator (“All Alone” or “Monday”). Then on tracks like “Plastic Bubble” and “Lady Loop,” ALO dares you to bust out your best dance moves under the “rusty mirrorball.”
For Roses & Clover, the members of ALO shared much of the producing duties, though enlisted the help of veteran producer Robert Carranza (Beck, Los Lobos, Ozomatli) and Dave Simon-Baker. “Robert was like a mentor figure for us,” says Zach. “He has made so many albums and had so much experience. He would tell us we were on the right track, or not, which really empowered us even more.”
With that greater sense of power, the four friends look confidently towards the future when they venture out on another worldwide tour through much of 2007. This new incarnation will give them ample opportunities to shape, mold, and share the new songs on the road with their legions of fans.
“This is our favorite record we’ve made so far,” Steve says. “Making it was an incredible experience and it’s got us more excited about the band than ever before.”
01. Spectrum
02. Wasting Time (Isla Vista Song)
03. Girl, I Wanna Lay You Down*
04. Barbeque
05. Walls of Jericho
06. Pobrecito
07. Shapeshifter
08. The Gardener
09. Waiting for Jaden
10. Fly
*featuring Jack Johnson
The West Coast’s ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) cap off a year of extensive touring (including support on Jack Johnson’s North American Summer Tour and a fall run with Galactic) with the national release of Fly Between Falls. The ten song set captures the full force of the band’s collective consciousness to weave quirky California soul with shapeshifting jams, introspective lyrics with sun-soaked funk, all infused with the uplifting vibe that ALO’s ever-growing legions of fans live for.
Jack Johnson lends his unmistakable voice to a new version of “Girl, I Want to Lay You Down” an ALO song that was a crowd favorite during this summer’s tour. By tossing “Girl” and other radio friendly tunes like “Barbeque” and “Spectrum” into the mix with psychedelic brain-splitters like “Shapeshifter” and “The Gardener,” Fly Between Falls leaves pop consumers and jam connoisseurs equally impressed.