Barenaked Ladies’ drummer Tyler Stewart jokingly tells Billboard.com that heads better roll at their label Reprise, which mistakenly printed early versions of the band’s new disc, “Everything to Everyone,” as “Everything for Everyone.”
“Either they laid off the spell-check person or they are just so frickin’ negligent, that they deserve to go out of business anyway,” Stewart says with a laugh.
The album is the band’s first studio release since 2000’s “Maroon.” The 14-track disc finds the band changing paces a bit and approaching songwriting from a totally different direction.
“I think this album marks a new beginning because there are several things that are kind of unique about this record,” reveals Stewart. “Firstly, we wrote it as a group and secondly, we took the most time we have ever taken to actually write and record those songs – essentially a year from this past September. Usually we tour for like three years, take a month off, and for three weeks Ed and Steve would write all of the new songs. This time, we took about eight to 10 months off, and everyone brought songs to the table and we sort of fine-tuned it from there.”
Due Oct. 21, “Everything to Everyone” is being released in a deluxe CD/DVD edition that includes behind-the-scenes footage, studio clips and, most appealing, an 11-track acoustic video/audio performance that speaks to the musical heart and improvisational soul of BNL.
“We did a session toward the end of the album, while we were mixing, where we set up acoustically and just played these songs and recorded them without any overdubs or anything,” says Tyler. “And it was kind of fun because I played a thrown-together kit of like a drum case, tambourine and some bongos, which is great – kind of back to our acoustic roots. It was really fun playing these new songs kind of on the fly. You can hear it too, like Neil Young’s philosophy, ‘Don’t let the band learn the song too much. Just start rolling tape.’ So there are some inspired moments of spontaneity.”
“Everything to Everyone” is being supported by the aptly named outing Peep Show, which Tyler calls a “combination promo tour/concert tour.” BNL will be taking questions from the audience, showcasing the majority of the new release and playing a short selection from its back catalog at the end.
The tour begins Oct. 21 in Boston and runs through November. The band expects to play a few Christmas shows before returning for a Stateside arena tour in late February or early March.
