Jann Arden has sold over 2 million records worldwide. This offering is sweet, very fresh and bursting with bright, new flavours. BLOOD RED CHERRY is the fourth musical harvest from JANN ARDEN, one of Canada's finest singer-songwriter/entertainers. Kicking up her heels like never before, the Calgary native turns a creative corner with 14 delectable songs that together answer a resounding "Yes!" to the question posed in the title of her last album, 1997's HAPPY?
As the title so provocatively suggests, BLOOD RED CHERRY is about innocence and passion, virtue and romance, deliciously wicked humour and -- if you must know -- lust. Just check out the cool bravado of "I Only Wanted Sex," the quirky, playful innuendo of "Best Dress" and the album's abundance of infectious grooves and sensual rhythms and you'll hear what we mean.
But don't worry, Jann Arden hasn't forgotten how to make your heart ache with an indelible melody, as she did so eloquently on songs like "I Would Die For You," (from her 1993 Juno-winning debut TIME FOR MERCY), the Juno-winning "Could I Be Your Girl" and her international hit "Insensitive," both from her breakthrough second album, LIVING UNDER JUNE, now eight times platinum in Canada with world-wide sales of over 1.5 million. Jann's songs continue to live up to the heart-wrenching tradition that her fans love about her.
"Sleepless," the first single from BLOOD RED CHERRY, is classic Arden, a tender yet upbeat song that contrasts a moment of intimacy with big, old world swirling just outside the door. The video for "Sleepless" marks Arden's 11th collaboration with director JETH WEINRICH, whose award-winning videos for Arden include "I Would Die For You" and "Insensitive." The exquisite ballad "Mend" is an achingly beautiful duet of forgiveness with BLUE RODEO'S JIM CUDDY. "I never intended the song as a duet, but we gave Jim a lift once and as we were talking I thought he would be perfect to sing the harmony," Arden says. "The song opens with 'Why are you weeping?' It's saying, 'Here, drink some water'we're going in circles, we don't even know what we were fighting about anymore. It's about taking time to step back."
A very different sentiment is delivered in the swift tempo and sing-song melody of "Janeen," a hilarious, catty ditty which is not, Arden asserts, about a specific person: "I laughed the whole way through writing that 'She'll poke your eyes out, she'll tear your heart apart.' It's so true about people you went to high school with or people in the office, who are just assholes all the time. Everyone knows a Janeen. And I just love the Eurotrash rhythm, it's so fresh and so up."
The sonic diversity on BLOOD RED CHERRY reflects a fruitful burst of creativity for Arden, and marks the first songwriting collaboration with her long-time guitar player RUSSELL BROOM. "I just felt if I'm ever going to move on I have to get away from my acoustic guitar and my kitchen table," Arden explains. The prolific pair ended up with almost 40 tunes. "Working with a drum machine, I was able to be more syncopated and more present. I was writing fast and furiously," she recalls. While Arden sometimes had Broom play a chord progression for an hour while they were writing, there is nothing over-indulgent about BLOOD RED CHERRY. As Arden explains: "We live in a world of the giant noodle how long will it take to end this song? Find out, on the next episode of Divas! That's all fine, but I'm more from the school of Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark or Karen Carpenter."
From writing with Broom to recording her new batch of songs, with L.A. producer ED CHERNEY whose credits include Bonnie Raitt, Rolling Stones and Arden's previous albums -- at the helm along with MARK GOLDENBERG, Arden found the whole process of BLOOD RED CHERRY liberating. "I've been leery about using technology, but I think we've found a great way of using this hybrid sound," she says. "We've got programmed rhythms and real drums, there are synths but there are real strings all over the place. Although I still play my guitar, just to be able to put it in the corner, for a tune like "Another Human Being," was completely euphoric."
One of the most rhythmic songs on the new album, "Another Human Being" was inspired by Arden's time in Africa [a couple of years ago] working with World Vision, a relief organization with which she is still heavily involved. Her complex emotional response to the experience is reflected in the lyrics, as she sings in the chorus, "The world is falling apart/ And I know in my heart there's nothing I can do about it," while the verses contain more humourous, fond observations. "I wanted to write something about the desperate situation in Africa, but I also wanted to make it fun, because they're fun people," Arden says.
And Arden's experience in Africa inspired more than just a song: "I changed when I came home, I changed everything. I got out of a bad relationship, I left my management, I put my house up for sale. I re-thought what my place was with my family and my friends. I just bought a house in the country, about a mile and a half from my parents. I was a city brat, but now I've gone and done it." A voracious reader, Arden takes heart in the fact that her new home is only a three-mile drive from the nearest bookstore.
As part of a hectic schedule that includes non-stop charity work, Arden recently recorded a gorgeous version of the Ben E. King standard "Stand By Me," which is being released by Universal Music as a single on April 4. This is not on BLOOD RED CHERRY. The single will be the theme song for Toronto's North York Hospital's campaign to raise awareness of and funds for their improvements in cancer research and prenatal care. "When the president of Universal Music Canada, Randy Lennox, asked me to record this, my brother's babies were preemies at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary," Arden says. "I'm so grateful those kids had such great care. And I thought the song has such a great lyric and sentiment for what the North York Hospital is trying to do."
Arden is also featured in Bryan Adams' recently published photography book Made In Canada, the royalties from which benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Images from the book -- including photographs of Arden, author Margaret Atwood and astronaut Roberta Bondar -- are part of a unique calendar that is distributed free in specially-marked boxes of Kellogg's Special K, as part of its "Look Good On Your Own Terms" campaign. Jann's photo is on the cover of the box that promotes the calendar. "The idea of the campaign is pretty much my moniker," Arden says. "In my career I present myself just as I am. I'm saying, this is not about me, it's about the songs so let your judgement lie there."
Arden's ebullient spirit and irrepressible wit have landed her in front of the mic, hosting the Juno Awards in 1997 and the Eve's Tavern night at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" comedy festival two years in a row. "It's amazing what comes your way when you can speak English and look presentable," she says with characteristic deadpan humour. "I guess I'm good on my feet, and I think that's been a part of my success as a personality in Canada." Arden has also been turning heads in Hollywood. She auditioned for the last Adam Sandler film and several other interesting parts. "I take acting very seriously as an art, and I deeply respect those who have studied it," she says. "I have an agent in L.A. and we've been fielding scripts. My whole thing with acting and the Hollywood thing is -- if I have something you want, then I'll give it to you on my own terms and I won't be crushed if I'm too short or whatever, because you have nothing I want. My life is complete."
That attitude, Arden feels, is not only about her spirit but is also part of the Canadian spirit. And those two ideas perfectly intertwine on the opening track of BLOOD RED CHERRY, "Waiting In Canada." As Arden explains, "The song is about not wanting to move your whole life for someone. And I always wanted to sing the word 'Canada' in a song." It's a wistful, late-night driving song that says as much about where Arden has come from and where she's heading with the music of BLOOD RED CHERRY -- into the hearts of both new and long-time fans.
"I'm not driven by my ego as much as I am by my spirit," Arden says. "I think ego can destroy good things because it gives you mixed messages. Ego will tell you you're too fat or too ugly. But if you let your spirit speak for you it's much gentler. Spirit will tell you that you're beautiful, that you have cute little hands and that songs can make you feel good in your heart."
