Jason Falkner

Can You Still Feel?

At first glance, it’s an enigmatic question. But it’s a good one — because in this age of relentless media and sensory overload, it seems the simple act of feeling can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Can You Still Feel? is, of course, the title of Jason Falkner’s new album. And that simple, very human question makes perfect sense sitting atop a stack of the purest, most musical and memorable pop songs you’ll hear all year. In other words, maybe an optimistic pop-rock tune is just what it takes to remind us how good it feels to, well, feel.

After delighting fans and dazzling critics with his 1996 solo debut Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown, Jason returns with another dozen pop gems whose pleasures range from wry to melancholy, from calm to clamorous, from spare to ornate. The songs brim with irresistible melodies, buoyant harmonies, and crisp, ringing guitars, and showcase an artist whose writing playing and arrangements are adventurous and confident beyond his years. These fresh but familiar songs would sound great spinning at 45 rpm, and, in another era, no doubt would be.

Falkner grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, where he was surrounded by music virtually from birth, thanks to his music-loving parents. “When I was four, I used to follow my mom around the kitchen patting rhythms on her ass,” he says. “To get me to stop they got me a set of drums from Toys R Us.” He spent enough time beating the toy traps that he got a real set — a blue-sparkle four-piece — when he was six. Within a couple of years, piano followed, including preparation for the Juilliard School Of Music, and he also taught himself guitar.

Jason’s teenage musical diet initially consisted of the album rock that dominated the ’70s & ’80s airwaves, including, he says sheepishly, a brief stint with progressive rock like Yes and UK. His life changed for the better, however, when he discovered his sister’s punk & new wave 8-track tapes. “It started with artists like The Police, Elvis Costello and theB-52’s,” he says, and once he discovered bands like Wire, Magazine, Stiff Little Fingers, The Damned and The Buzzcocks, there was no turning back. He began playing in bands, but, he explains, “The funny thing was, it just wasn’t cool to be a good musician. There I was, a guy who had won classical piano competitions, pretending that I could barely play! It was a little confusing.”

Eventually, he moved to San Francisco to join the band that became Jellyfish. Although Jellyfish enjoyed some success, Jason, who was already an accomplished songwriter, was disappointed to learn that only his guitar talents were wanted. After touring in support of their debut, he left the group, swearing off bands forever. Or so he thought. An informal collective of musician friends soon mutated into the Grays, Jason’s next band, or anti-band, as he calls them. Despite an acclaimed album, the casual nature of the group ultimately won out and they dissolved.

(It’s worth noting that among pop fans, the Grays’ now out-of-print album Ro Sham Bo is a rare and cherished collectors’ item.)

Despite his brushes with success in those two groups, Jason found that he was never able to express himself as fully as he would if he were not confined to a role in a band. So he took a giant leap with Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown, creating a rich artistic vision entirely his own. And a solo debut it was, in the truest sense Falkner played every instrument on the album, the songs were entirely self-penned, and he assumed the role of producer as well. CMJ Weekly raved, “Every song is a pop marvel, tailored with a kaleidoscopic brilliance.” Musician called the record “remarkable,” and The Chicago Tribune said, “The album harks to the days when albums were packed with great songs rather than one hit and filler.”

Can You Still Feel? marks a continuation of Jason’s single-handed pursuit of pop perfection, with one difference. For the new album, he enlisted a co-producer — Nigel Godrich, who received international acclaim for his work on Radiohead’s 1997 landmark release OK Computer. So why did this resolutely solo artist decide to find a cohort? “Well, I wanted somebody else who have something invested in the project, who cared,” Falkner explains. “I didn’t want a musical collaboration so much as a commitment. An engineer doesn’t have as much vested in it. And I wanted a little less of the duties, especially the non-musical ones.

“I heard OK Computer about a month after it came out, and I freaked,” he continues. “I just thought, ‘Who did this?!’ So I got in touch with Nigel. He knew of me from Jellyfish, and I sent him my last album, which he loved. It’s hard to pick someone who you’ve never met, but it was a brilliant experience. He comes from a very similar place of musical taste, so it was a really good marriage.” They recorded the album in New Orleans, “a place alien to both of us,” Jason says. “It poured, and there was lots of drama with his visa, so he was a week late. The only other thing to do was drink. When he finally arrived, it was great. I felt very confident with him.”

Once again, Jason played all the instruments. “I’m not sure why. It’s really kind of a pain in the ass!” he laughs. “I had the idea of bringing in some guests, but in the end it just felt like additional people might have messed up our chemistry. Plus, Nigel was into me playing everything.” He adds, “Next time, though, I am going to get a band! Last time it had some novelty — ‘wow, I’m actually doing this!’ This time it was more like ‘Uh, I don’t have any friends. No one wants to play in my sandbox.’ But it was still a lot of fun.”

Like his debut, Can You Still Feel? is radiant with the innocent joy of the classic pop records of the 1960’s, but with a distinctly modern, never-naive sensibility. “Take a chance with me,” invites Jason on the first words of the whimsical song-tease that opens the album, and from he moves through eleven more songs that will remind everyone how good and bright and meaningful pop music can be. And of the possibilities life can have, if we take that chance. Jason’s spirit of open, ebullient but wise wonder carries through the rest of the album, and he even finds optimism in sadness. On the soft, dreamy “Revelation”

Jason sings “Don’t hold me down/when there is life all around,” while on the acoustic “See You Again” he observes, “Life can be just like a painting full of strangeness/with colors so vibrant you feel like you should look away.” On “Honey” he sings “Who’s that staring at a blank page? It’s me.”

Elsewhere, Jason rocks out on the amazingly melodic “Author Unknown” and the swaggering first single “Eloquence”; flirts with new wave on “My Lucky Day” and with modern psychedelia on “I Already Know”; plays some colossal riffs on “All God’s Creatures” that would have been right at home on Led Zeppelin III; and brings the album peaceably to a close on “Goodnight Sweet Night.” Jason consciously made the arrangements less than on his debut, “so that it’s more direct and takes less energy to wrap your ears around. But,” he can’t help but add, “a lot of it ended up that way anyway.” Despite this mostly simpler approach, the music still takes twists and turns that are totally unexpected yet somehow go exactly where you want them to.

“I feel like I have something I’m trying to communicate, but it’s hard to articulate,” Jason says. “It’s about personal and creative freedom. I’d venture to say that everyone is artistic in some way, and has something to say, but lacks the confidence or the focus. It’s important to find something that’s uniquely yours. This record is a beckoning to let it out, to get a sense of peace. Go down your own road!”