Liz Phair
Returning from exile
title] could be interpreted to mean all the different things we do to avoid direct reality; not just substance use, but all the ways in which we can exist, both in the real world and in denial.
Words MARCEL ANDERS
Right from the release of her 1993 debut album, Exile in Guyville, singersongwriter Liz Phair has set herself apart from the status quo of the music scene as a disruptor and someone who confounds others’ expectations. It makes sense, then, that 11 years on from the Chicagoan’s last release, the album Funstyle – and at the most unexpected of moments – she’s back. Soberish sees Phair reunite with Brad Wood, the producer with whom she made her defiant, groundbreaking debut and its two follow-ups. Cited as an inspiration on more recent indie artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski, Phair – with Wood’s help – showed that female songwriters could be both feminine and frank, making art that feels vulnerable but also holds its own in the maledominated indie music scene. Here, the 54-year-old discusses changes in the musical landscape over the last decade, and how she has created a record that honours her past while also navigating an industry transformed by the internet. the red bulletin: What made you return to the scene after 11 years? liz phair: It was good timing. When my son was in school, I switched to scoring TV [shows] so I wouldn’t be out of town as much. Then he went off to college. In the interim, I was inspired that so many young female artists had sprung up. If you think of my first album, Exile in Guyville… it feels like ‘Girlville’ has happened now. It was like moving back into a better and inspiring environment.
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And you chose Brad Wood as your producer again… Listening back to my early recordings and talking with everyone, I felt an emotional connection. I almost remembered who I was and how we made that record. Brad really takes all my crazy ideas and tries to realise them. So he’s very much responsible for the sound, but he let me produce as well. It’s collaborative. But the gorgeousness of the sound is all Brad. It’s interesting you came up with something very similar to Exile in Guyville yet somehow different… It was a lot of fun to say, “How can we evoke the past, not just showing where we are right now, but looking to the future the way Guyville did back then?” My first record occupied an unusual space in culture; it felt new, different. And so how can we evoke the past and yet have our present-day product evoke the future? Does it feel like the fans own you in some way? Like some just want Exile in Guyville, while others prefer pop tunes? I’d like people to understand that art it’s not a fixed thing. Creativity is a fluid, ever-changing medium. It’s like mercury – if you try to box it, it’s going to slip out. And I wish the world in general would understand the great gift of the transmutability of our creative lives. I think people would be happier if they could experience more creativity and take it less as my identity and my ego. What’s behind the title, Soberish? I felt very ‘soberish’. [Laughs.] Living in America under Trump, for a while I couldn’t take reality head-on. [The
Probably the best line on the album is: “I meant to be sober, but the bar is so inviting”… Yes, isn’t it just? We all dream that we can use substances to feel great, and nothing in life will go wrong because of it. But you can never hold that line. How has the industry changed while you’ve been away? All the things that are required of an artist today, like the social media presence, the self-management, entrepreneurship… it just seems so daunting. There are more things than ever to compete against, more people than ever out there making music because of home technology, and the algorithms are ever more unforgiving. And streaming doesn’t make you as much money, does it? [There’s] less money to be made. I know, depressing. Add that to our depressing pile and let’s go to the bar. Do you feel as if the world doesn’t appreciate you? It’s something you reference in the song Flowers [from Exile on Guyville]… Well, it’s tongue-in-cheek, but yes, I feel like I’m always going against the grain, like I’m a woman who fits neither the mould of the bohemian artist nor the goodly-wife type. I’m stuck in the wrong time. Like, if I were born 30 years later, I’d be normal. Somebody has to be the pioneer… [Laughs.] Someone’s got to do it. But my head hurts. So, what we’ve got on Soberish is the essence of Liz Phair, then. Do we have our old Liz back? I think so. I feel like myself again. That sense of myself as a boundarypusher, too much imagination, dramatic emotional cartographer. That person is back. Liz Phair’s new album Soberish is out now; lizphairofficial.com
THE RED BULLETIN
RENE & RADKA/CPI SYNDICATION
How revisiting her rebellious musical past helped the Chicago-born singer-songwriter rediscover herself in the present
