As a contributor to The Post and Courier, South Carolina's largest newspaper, I profiled dozens of popular musicians, including Gregg Allman, Bob Weir, The Strokes and, in this case, Jewel. We spoke via phone as Jewel prepared to embark on a tour promoting her album 0304.
Hopes Jewel to shine
Jewel brings her multitalented self on her Intuition Tour to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center tonight.
by Michael Lovett
Publication: The Post and Courier, April 8, 2004
There's a lot more glitter to Jewel's act these days. Fans of the Alaska-born singer/songwriter's early work, like 1995's post-grunge romance "Pieces of You," may be a little surprised by Jewel's most recent release, "0304," by both the artist's new glam image and the music's new digi-pop feel.
According to Jewel, however, this hi-fi turn is simply the next step in her creative evolution.
Like her literary, cinematic and philanthropic forays — which include penning a New York Times bestselling poetry collection, "A Night Without Armor," putting in a critically acclaimed acting performance in Ang Lee's 1999 Civil War drama, "Ride With The Devil," and establishing a global humanitarian organization called Higher Ground For Humanity — Jewel's experimentation with pop production techniques on "0304" is yet another example of the multi-platinum artist's limitless curiosity.
Jewel praises "authentic artist(s)" like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, songwriters who are "always turning (the) creative soil over, always mining, always pushing, always searching, always staying fiercely committed to doing the work that's involved with being that vital, that dynamic, that attuned to where you are and where culture is."
This time, Jewel's own tilling of her creative soil has yielded a masterful, yet highly inorganic, piece of pop craftsmanship. Produced by Cuban-American song stylist Lester Mendez (Shakira, Santana, Enrique Iglesias), "0304" moves with a slick pop aesthetic: big, programmed beats, eclectic instrumentation (note the accordion melody on the single "Intuition") and flashy vocal hooks.
The album does not shy away from the latest trends in vocal production. In fact, Jewel's voice has never been so lavishly embellished. On "U & Me = Love" Mendez employs a multi-track vocal layering technique relied on by Britney Spears and Cher.
On the stalker tale, "Haunted," Mendez treats Jewel's vocals with a distortion effect, resulting in that gritty, washed-out texture popularized by The Strokes' Julian Casablancas.
Yet behind her new glam image, digi-pop sound and chat room-styled song titles like "Run 2 U" and "2 Find U," Jewel's lyrics remain as poignant and direct as ever. On the album's hit single, "Intuition," Jewel cleverly deconstructs the "world of postmodern fad" in which she herself now competes, a world where "Ms. J's big butt is boss/ Kate Moss can't find a job." On "America," Jewel praises the population's resilience amidst the fear, confusion and deception running amok in our post-9/11 state. She sings, "We are trying in America/ We're spying in America/ We're crying in America/ We're dying in America." Jewel's unabashed new pop packaging is an expression of her modern ideal of "intelligent escapism." Both for her world-weary audience and the artist herself, "0304's" danceable beats and singable hooks administer a deserved dose of fun. Recently, Preview indulged in a quick conversation with Jewel, speaking via telephone from an undisclosed location in Asia, where she was enjoying a fun-filled afternoon of prefab promotional interviews.
Preview: One thing I always thought was pretty cool about you, Jewel, is that you can sing and play the guitar. But I don't see your name next to the guitar credits in the new album's liner notes. What's up?
Jewel: I didn't really have time for the guitar with this one. I wrote the whole album in like six weeks, which is pretty amazing, if you think about it. I wrote a lot of it to a background track. You know, we'd set a mid-tempo beat, I'd ask them to emphasize the downbeats for me, and I'd write that way. If I had had to work it all out on guitar, it would've taken more like six months. But for the tour, I'm doing a solo show. Just me and my guitar.
Preview: Just you, your guitar and a basketball arena full of people. That's got to be a little intimidating.
Jewel: It's not.
Preview: It's not?
Jewel: I'm just pretty tough. Playing solo, it's what I've done the most of throughout my career, and so I guess I've just gotten used to it.
Preview: You're out on tour right now, and I imagine you're always pretty busy. Do you ever get a chance to, like, go bowling?
Jewel: Hmmm. Never been a big bowling fan. I used to go bowling with my grandmother when I was like 12. Can't say I really miss it, though...
Preview: What do you miss?
Jewel: I miss surfing. I used to do that every day. And I miss my horse. I have a horse and I ride whenever I'm home. But as far as things like going bowling, I don't know... I get to see some pretty amazing places -- Bangkok, Singapore -- I guess I'm okay without bowling for awhile.
Preview: Here in Charleston, we love to hear how beautiful our city is. Have you ever been?
Jewel: Yeah, I've been to Charleston before. I was like 20 and I was opening up for Edwin McCain. But I came in at night and I left at night. It was dark, I swear.
Jewel's "Intuition Tour" comes to The North Charleston Performing Arts Center tonight at 8 p.m.