Canadian singer/songwriter Jordan Klassen will be releasing his full-length debut Repentance on September 18th. Repentance, the follow up to 2012s EP Kindness, was recorded at Buena Vista Audio with producer and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Anderson (Aidan Knight, In Medias Res, Sheree Plett). Ukuleles, strings, horns, choirs, glockenspiels, omnichords accent Klassen’s chamber folk/pop alongside guitars, pianos, and drums with his floating falsetto drawing everything together. In return, Klassen has made an album that echoes the intelligent pysch folk of Joanna Newsom but with a pop twist that will fans of Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. We recently heard from Klassen before the release of Repentance.
The new record has been a long time in the making. I’ve been sitting with it for quite a while and am pretty proud of it. It’s written with spring in mind; the idea of something old becoming something new, of turning away from something ugly toward something beautiful again. For some reason Disney soundtracks are very reminiscent of spring to me so a lot of the songs are inspired by animated Disney scores.
I’d say the 5 songs on the record that best represent where I’m at as an artist are Sweet “Chariot,” “Strengthen Me With Raisins,” “Go To Me,” “The Horses Are Stuck” and “Piano Brother.” That’s a pretty eclectic mix, but I think that whenever you make a record there are certain things that stand out as being themes or feelings or structures that you want to continue to dive into as you write more. Those all have those elements for me.
Tell us about your first concert experience?
I’m pretty sure my first concert experience was seeing the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in middle school. I was probably irritating and restless and totally ignorant to how amazing what I was hearing was. I also had a thing for this girl, Stephanie. I bet we sat beside each other and acted nonchalant and sweaty.
What would you consider your most memorable moment as a musician so far on stage…
In July I got to play a concert at one of my favorite venues in Vancouver, it’s called The Vogue. It’s a theater and I love playing shows in theaters. I think the music I write is quite delicate so it often doesn’t translate at venues where people want to get pumped up and drink lots of beer. The crowd was incredible that night and basically hung on every note we played. It was one of those shows that you imagine when you first start playing music, and don’t realize what’s happening until you’re standing there. To be honest, every once in a while when I’m playing a show that’s really special to the band and I, I’ll get kind of emotional at one point in the set. Is that lame? No one knows, but maybe I start singing and I push down like a lump in my throat. I can’t believe I’m revealing this. Anyway, that happened at The Vogue.
In high school you thought you were going to grow up to be a …….
Believe it or not, I thought I was going to be a musician. It always just made sense to me.
Likes and dislikes about your musical hometown?
I guess that’s Abbotsford. It’s a suburb of Vancouver about one hour east. I like Abbotsford because it’s pretty and has this rustic kind of feel, and because I know a lot of people there. Some of the things I don’t like about it is that there is no support for the arts, and it’s very difficult to find anyone who doesn’t want to get married at 21 and get a mortgage. Not that that’s bad – it’s just not what I wanted so I think I often felt like I didn’t fit in.
How and where do you typically get inspired to write new material?
I get most of my ideas when I’m playing someone else’s guitar. I’m not sure why that is. As well, titles often inspire me. I’ll think of a neat title and then I’ll wonder what a song with that title would sound like. Of course, I also am very inspired by other art and by my creative friends.
Do you have any favorite albums of 2013 so far?
The National – Trouble Will Find Me. I just got home from a trip to New York and this was a slick soundtrack.
Daughter – If You Leave. At times depressing to the point of a slight eye roll, but just so sincere and well put together.
Jon Hopkins – Immunity. My drummer Simon turned me on to this. Really intricate and dynamic electronic music: sometimes sad and quiet, sometimes sinister and pounding.
If you could curate a festival who would be on it?
I was actually asked this question recently and decided that my festival would be called “Cry Fest”. Everyone would go and talk about philosophy and theology and art and be introspective. There would be scheduled sharing times and no one would be allowed to wave their arms in the air like they just don’t care, unless it was because they were letting go of something significant in their past. The line-up would include Joanna Newsom, Daughter, Phosphorescent, Patrick Watson, Julianna Barwick, Sufjan Stevens, and Nick Drake. And Enya.
I hope one day to make an album that sounds like?
Oh boy, tough one. Not necessarily something that sounds exactly like this, but I’d love to make something as epic and structurally risky as Joanna Newsom’s Ys. It’s a full length record, but five 8 to 12 minute songs. She just pulls it off so beautifully and it’s so outside of the realm of regular pop structure.
