There`s
no doubt that working in the studio with the new Madrugada
songs has been therapeutic for Sivert and me, says bass-player
Frode Jacobsen in connection with the fact that he and singer
Sivert Hoyem have decided to stick with the original schedule,
set before guitarist Robert Burås
tragic death, for the recording of their new album.
We´re really glad that we have these recordings,
fourteen songs where Robert plays a major part. By continuing
the work according to our plan, our ideas are still fresh,
the vision the three of us had for this record still feels
alive . If we had put it aside for a year, I´m sure we
would have ended up with a completely different record. We
would probably have been alot more apprehensive in our approach.
The material on the new album was developed among the band
members in the three years that have passed since their last
studio album, The Deep End, recorded in Los
Angeles in the fall of 2004.
Madrugada began work on their new album in New York in May
with the producer/engineer John Agnello. Agnello mixed Madrugada`s
debut album Industrial Silence (1999) and he was
involved as a producer for the follow-up, The Nightly
Disease (2001). He also mixed Robert Buras`s band My
Midnight Creeps second album, the very well received Histamin (2007).
In other words; He is the external creative force that has
had the most influence on Madrugada`s artistic development.
Earlier
this fall, Agnello worked with the band in Svenska Grammofon
Studio ( Run by Kalle Gustavson, bass-player from leading
Swedish rock band, Soundtrack Of Our Lives).
In November, Madrugada and Agnello met back in the US to finish and mix the
album in the two studios, Magic Shop (Manhattan) and Water Music ( Hoboken, New
Jersey). We
were really happy with the first sessions we had in New York
in May. The foundation for the whole record was done
at that time.
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On one very special day, the three of us experienced something
that was both magical and to us, very unusual.We recorded five
songs in a row, normally it takes at least a couple of days
to get one song down on tape.
Vital to making this Madrugada album both
the best and the most important ever, is the list of merited
musicians and friends the trio has involved; Madrugadas drummer
from the last two albums, Erland Dahlen, The American guitarist
Kid Congo Powers ( The Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Gun Club),
who also played on the big selling live album ” Live
at Trafalmadore” (2005), the guitarist Emil Nicolaisen
(Serena Manesh), the American pedal steel-players Eric Heywood
(Son Volt, The Jayhawks, Joe Henry) and David Mansfield (
Bob Dylan, Alpha Band). Adding vocals are Norwegian singers
Ane Brun, who was the duet partner on the mega hit ”Lift
me” in 05 and Ingrid Olava. A first on this album is
a song where Robert sings lead vocal. Even though he sang
with his own band, My Midnight Creeps, he was always reluctant
to sing with Madrugada.
I´m really happy that we managed to persuade him, concludes
Frode Jacobsen. |