1. Why did the gap between Meteorites and Apples for Isaac become twelve years?
There were several reasons for the 12 years between them. I began writing songs just before COVID. The mood globally changed, dramatically, and wasn’t the backdrop that I was hearing or feeling, or in the songs I’d demoed just before the strangeness of the changing world. So, a forced hiatus turned into a longer period than I thought it would be.
2. How did you find your way back to writing after that disruption?
The immediate period after COVID seemed to become more manageable. I, like most people, tried to make some sort of sense out of a life that was so different from what it had been. Which isn’t easy when loved ones become ill and pass away so quickly.
I felt I had the time to start growing again, with things I wanted to say, with different thoughts and words like everything was starting again.
I never write about anything or anyone specifically apart from myself, really. Obviously, in “Brussels is Haunted” I reference actual people who I knew and was friends with and they are very much the tapestry of the song.
3. Did you try anything new on Apples for Isaac that you are especially pleased with?
I asked our keyboard player Mike to try some completely spontaneous saxophone on “Lab Rats Ran” and told him I just wanted it a bit wacky and off-kilter, the aim being to nail it in one take. He did just that for the most part and then put some low end stuff in the choruses to beef it up. We’d never used sax on anything before but I was pretty sure it would work well on that track.
4. What was it about Clem Burke’s playing that made him the right fit for Apples for Isaac?
I’ve always loved his propulsive drumming style which was so important to the Blondie sound, everything was about the song but still allowed for each personality to shine through.
During the making of the album I saw a documentary about him on television and I just thought he’d be perfect, and thankfully he agreed to do it.
5. Are there lyrics on the record you’re especially proud of?
I’m totally proud of them all, from the tongue in cheek lyrics (which I’m as meticulous about as I am about the more philosophical lyrics…ish) but there are two songs which I think are really up there with my most properly poetic lyrics (with tongue partly in cheek there). The stand out for me, words-wise, is “An Unstoppable Force”.
6. People have compared the youthful spirit of these songs to Crocodiles, your debut album. Where does that comes from?
People have been telling me that they are reminded of Crocodiles. That’s the result of having the time to almost grow. “almost” because not only do I not want to grow up, I couldn’t… because I don’t want to. Ever.
I believe this album is about being who and what you are. Who and what we are. And most definitely who and what I am. Like I have always been.
