Paul Westerberg

PAUL WESTERBERG
(In His Own Words)

Father. Artist. Mid-westerner. Eccentric. Walker. Movie hater. Tree lover. Pill taker. Songwriter. Gardener. Floor sweeper. Floor sleeper. Dyslexic. Weather enthusiast. Rock singer. Janitor. Romantic. Liar. Has-been. Hero. Has made a new record, SUICAINE GRATIFACTION.

PAUL WESTERBERG
‘SUICAINE GRATIFACTION’

Singer, songwriter and guitarist PAUL WESTERBERG is back with a new album, SUICAINE GRATIFACTION, his first for Capitol. It was produced by Don & Paul WASterberg. Of the album, Don Was says: “It’s a rare occasion when you get to make a record that has solidly good writing throughout, where every line has value and there’s not a wasted word. I wanted the production to be sonically invisible so that there would be no remnants of the recording process that would get between Paul and the listener.”

SUICAINE GRATIFACTION was recorded at PAUL’s Minneapolis home and in New York and Los Angeles. The album–a stormy blend of rockers, acoustic guitar ballads and piano-and-vocal songs–features PAUL on guitars and piano, backed by such esteemed players as Don Was and keyboardist Benmont Tench. The production touches–a cello, French horn, pedal steel guitar and accordion–are subtle.

When pressed to describe the music on SUICAINE GRATIFACTION, PAUL says “it’s fucked-up folk music.” Adds DON, “It seemed almost discourteous to clean up the mess after him. It wasn’t appropriate for me to litter it with my own personal touches.”

For WESTERBERG–known for his “genius for injecting sensitivity into flat-out chaos” (Trouser Press Record Guide)–it’s the song that rules. It’s this aesthetic that inspired him to join forces with Don Was, probably best known for producing acclaimed albums for Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones. Was’ opinion about the songs on SUICAINE GRATIFACTION? “I think people in general can’t make records like this because no one writes songs that are this good and direct and that have this kind of integrity.”

From his days fronting the legendary Replacements, to his recent solo works–which include his two critically acclaimed albums, 14 Songs (1993) and Eventually (1996), plus two songs on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe film Singles–PAUL WESTERBERG has always blazed his own uncompromising path.

What inspired PAUL WESTERBERG to title the new album SUICAINE GRATIFACTION? “Over the years, I’ve come up with words that I guess are incorrect but mean something to me,” he explains. “I don’t want to think about it too deeply other than the fact that it seems wrong, and therefore it’s attractive to me.”

Talking about the album, PAUL says: “This is a dark record–you’d be hard pressed to find a joke on it, which might be the greatest departure, because there’s always at least one joke on my records, but I don’t think this one has one.”