Nathan Wiley explores his darker side

Thursday, May 31, 2007  |  DEAN LISK, The Daily News

It is one of the more interesting music reviews Nathan Wiley has received; a series of Friday-night - more like Saturday-morning - phone calls from his uncle, Tom Desroches.

"City Destroyed is awesome," Desroches said in a message. "But, I am probably prejudiced too, and drunk. You've go to take that into account."

For more than five minutes, the proud uncle goes on about Wiley's The City Destroyed Me, the Prince Edward Islander's follow up to the 2005 ECMA-winning album High Low.

"You are going to be laughing your head off listening to this," Desroches said. "You have to destroy this as soon as you hear it, and it didn't happen."

Instead of destroying it, Wiley posted it on his website.

"Yeah, he liked it - long story short," Wiley jokes. "Two thumbs up."

Released on Tuesday, the album features 13 shadowy and moody songs that were recorded during a two-week stint at Halifax's The Sonic Temple in January.

"The producer really had a vision right off the top to make a lyrically dark, kind of weirder record," Wiley said. "We kind of just let it go where it wanted, instead of try and control anything. We threw a lot of stuff at the wall and kind of kept everything that stuck."

That producer is Steve Berlin, who has worked with the likes of Faith No More and the Tragically Hip, and is a member of the group Los Lobos.

Berlin was a fan of Wiley's 2002 debut, Bottom Dollar. The producer wanted to work with Wiley on High Low, but scheduling conflicts kept him out of the studio when it came time to record the album.

"There was a point where we had a choice to do another record or wait to work with Steve Berlin. So, we waited. While I was waiting I kept writing, so we literally had 50 of 55 songs to pick from this time around," Wiley said.

Paring down the songs wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. He and Berlin each made their own album wish list, and then compared notes. Right away, some songs appeared on both lists.

"With those songs, there were a lot different types of records you could make, but the record we talked about making was kind of a weirder, lyrically darker record," Wiley said. "So, those songs jumped out of darker."

The singer-songwriter said Berlin brought a lot to the table when it came to the arrangement and the musical instrument selection. While Wiley plays guitar, the producer tickles the ivories, and introduces the clavinet, Hammond organ, mellotron and sax to the final sound.

"Steve really has great ears. He is really there to serve the songs," Wiley said.

The sound of the album is diverse, opening with the pop of One of the Worst Ones, the desperation of The City Destroyed Me, and the electric guitar moans of Sick Side.

Berlin was also responsible for the sequencing of the songs - the order they appear on the album. It is something Wiley admits he is terrible at. Berlin drove around L.A. listening to different song orders before deciding on this one.

The result sounds like a ride through the psyche of a small town boy being driven into the darkness of a big city full of despair and hopelessness. The image of a young man lost is repeated in the courtroom sketch CD cover, and the CD jacket - printed to look like a newspaper covering a trial.

"I didn't notice until someone I lent it to told me that it sounded like an album about fate," Wiley said. "I really wanted to leave that open, let people come up with their own little story."

He said he's always been a fan of those quick-drawn but to-the-point sketches you see on the news, adding they always seem to nail the likeness of the accused. He was surprised no one seems to have used it on a CD before.

"I thought with the darker lyrical content on this album, that it would really work," he said.


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