“They’re not as dusty as they have been,” Lane agrees, “but only because we realised ‘OK, need to make a record,’ and that the Problem was spending way too much time being totally addicted to being on the road and touring. I could write songs on the road, but getting into the space to pull an album together and record it was impossible. Finally, late last year we had a little gap in the States and put aside all November, but that was the first time we sat down to start writing and recording. We’ve had a couple of small tours in Canada, Australia and the US, but nowhere near as much as we used to. That gave us the time to really spend as much of it making this album. Which was really cool, but also scary at first. To put on that other hat, because I hadn’t done that for real since 2011 when the last full length came out. Now that’s all I want to do. Be in these little cubbyhouse studios and hide in there making sounds.”
Touring’s a beguiling lifestyle to call home, thriving on the momentum, on the applause. In some ways it’s like a drug; one which must be abruptly weaned off when it comes time to settle into the studio.
“It’s completely, hugely addictive, and it’s not the real world. That makes it like a drug. First you get addicted to the movement, of having a real reason to get out of bed in the morning. I’ve always struggled with that,” he says. “I should have more respect for myself and others around me that I should get up on time anyway – but having a plane to catch gets me up, and I get a real rush from that. And then getting that instant gratification from an audience, whether that’s 5000 people on a festival stage, or five people in a bar. You feed off that praise. I’m a sucker for attention and for seeking approval. So it’s been hard to come off that drug.
“We got really good at touring, knowing how to get through security quickly, weight allowances, little tricks like that. Coming off the road and recording was daunting, because there’s not that fast-paced adrenalin rush.”
Glasselland is not only the culmination of five years of writing and refining; it also marks a shift in the way Lane composes. A solitary writer by nature, here he’s been joined by Claire Reynolds. The result is not a breakaway from a sound he’s spent a lifetime developing; it’s an evolution.
“A lot is still storytelling, is still folk and blues driven. But quite a bit of it has a different stylistic sound. The live shows are going to feel a bit more rock’n’roll. But I think the storyteller always wins. I’ve worked years finding my voice, and telling those stories through that and through my style of guitar picking, and I’ve worked really hard on that. But in the end, I hope it’s the stories that are more important to people.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
