Josh Groban
Awake
To fans around the world, Josh Groban is The Voice. A classically influenced pop singer with astonishing range and technical ability who thrills listeners with his emotional and moving interpretations of Italian standards and passionate ballads. The Grammy-nominated star possesses an instrument that critics have called “deliciously flawless”; one that led The New York Times to dub Groban “the New Boy Wonder of the Voice.”
Yet on his new album, Awake, due from Reprise Records on November 7th, Groban flaunts more than just his silken baritone. He also proves his versatility as an artist by co-writing and co-producing several songs on the album with a variety of collaborators, including his long-time producer David Foster, French world music composer Eric Mouquet, British producer Marius DeVries (Madonna, Björk, David Gray), pop songwriter Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Christina Aguilera), and electronica producer Guy Sigsworth. Groban has been more heavily involved in the creation of each of Awake’s 13 tracks than he was on his previous two albums, his 2001 best-selling self-titled debut and its multi-platinum 2003 follow-up, Closer, which hit Number One and spent more than a year on Billboard’s pop chart. The two albums combined have sold nearly 12 million copies in the U.S. and 16 million worldwide.
What that kind of success, it’d be easy for the 25-year-old Los Angeles native to simply trot out another gorgeous album of Italian love songs and weep-inducing ballads and stick to the program. But for this relentlessly creative and boundary-pushing artist, returning to what felt safe wasn’t an option.
“I needed to jump into a new fire and test myself,” Groban says. “You can always go back to where it‘s comfortable, but you don’t always have the opportunity to sink or swim. So whenever I have the chance to put myself in a situation where it could be greatness or it could be failure I’m going to take that risk, because previous experience has shown me that not taking the risk would’ve been the bigger risk.”
The “risk” Groban is referring to is choosing material that will broaden his appeal to all ages. The tracks include the haunting ballads “Weeping,” which Groban discovered during a eye-opening visit to Soweto, and “Lullaby,” which he co-wrote with Dave Matthews. Both feature backing vocals by South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo, known for their stirring harmonies on Paul Simon’s ground-breaking 1986 album Graceland. “Ever since Graceland, it was a dream of mine to sing with Ladysmith in the studio,” Groban says. Then there’s “Now or Never,” which Groban co-wrote with British singer/songwriter Imogen Heap, which he cites as a personal favorite for its simple melody and electronic soundscape. Heap, who produced the track, also fronts London poptronica duo Frou Frou with Guy Sigsworth, who produced, along with Tawgs Salter, Awake’s first single, the uplifting “You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up).” Groban is also proud of the stunningly moving “February Song,” which he co-wrote with DeVries and Five For Fighting’s John Ondrasik, and on which he plays piano. The album’s final cut, the fiery, funky “Machine,” which Groban co-wrote with Mouquet, is unlike anything he’s every recorded to date. It features the Tower of Power horn section and legendary jazz great Herbie Hancock on keyboards. “Herbie was so cool,” Groban says. “He drove up in his red Ferrari, laid down his solo in two hours, blew everyone away, and left in pure legend style.”
“The goal was to put music on the album that was stylistically different from a lot of things that I’ve done,” Groban says. “I think sometimes people see me singing in front of an orchestra and think, ‘Oh, he’s the PBS guy.’ So I just decided to have fun. There are some songs that the diehard fans from my first PBS special are going to hear and think, “We miss the old thing.” But that’s fine, because I think we’ll have twice as many people saying, “We really like the new thing.”
So what inspired Groban to explore different territory? He credits a large part of it to his 2004 solo tour, a 40-date trek across the U.S. in which every venue, including the prestigious Hollywood Bowl, sold out in 20 minutes flat. By the time Groban had completed tours of Europe and Asia, more than half a million people had seen him perform.
“It was a real eye-opening experience for me,” he says, “because you get an immediate reaction from people. You get to see firsthand who’s buying tickets and who’s buying your album. There were people of all ages in the crowd. So I thought to myself, ‘Cool, I’ve got my peers here.’ And I learned from the tour that my fans are really open-minded, musical, intelligent people who would like to come on this journey. So on Awake, I made it my responsibility to take them there gracefully.” Indeed, by the end of the tour, Groban had traded in his suit and tie for jeans and a t-shirt and was joyously bashing out a drum solo before leaping off the riser at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
That playful side of Groban — who counts Radiohead, Björk, and prog-metallers Tool among his favorite artists — is one that fans of his two elegant PBS specials may not be as familiar. Not to mention those who know him mainly from his many high-profile appearances, including replacing Andrea Bocelli in a duet with Celine Dion at the 1999 Grammy Awards, performing at the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies in Salt Lake City in 2002, singing “You Raise Me Up” — the hit single from Closer — during the 2004 Superbowl Half-Time show, or belting out the Oscar-nominated “Believe” from The Polar Express with Beyoncé at the 2005 Academy Awards. But with the diversity of songs and styles that emerge on Awake, Groban is sure to change the public’s perception of him as merely the impeccably dressed guy in front of the orchestra.
Which is not to say that the legions of devoted “Grobanites” won’t be delighted with the album. Awake also contains several moving ballads sung in Italian, Spanish, and English, including the grand, orchestral opener “Mai,” co-written by Leo Z, who composed the music for “Oceano” on Closer; the romantic David Foster-produced “Romeo Y Giulietta,” originally composed by Nino Rota as the theme song to the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film, and which Luciano Pavarotti sang 30 years ago; the dramatic, flamenco-flavored “Un Dia Llegares,” which Groban sings in Spanish; and the Marco Marinangeli and Mark Hammond-penned love song “Solo Por Ti,” with its simple guitar and vocal melodies.
“This album still sounds like me,” Groban says. “It still sounds like it’s coming from my heart, and my soul, and my voice most of all. I didn’t want it to sound like I’m trying to be something I’m not. Because the voice I have is the voice I have. This is what I wake up with. It’s how I express myself and it’s not something I ever want to lose. But what I can do is choose songs or styles that are more personal to me.”
Warming to his theme, Groban continues: “Annie Lennox, who is one of my greatest inspirations, once said to me, ‘Life is too short. You have to go where it thrills you and stand your ground. That’s all it should be.’ And that’s what I’ve done. ”
(September 2006)