Dan Wilson talks about the new album from Semisonic, 'Little Bit of Sun'
by Jill Riley
November 03, 2023
On Friday, Nov. 3, Semisonic are set to release Little Bit of Sun, the band’s first full-length release in more than 20 years. To mark the occasion, singer and songwriter Dan Wilson joined The Current’s Jill Riley to talk about the new album, its many collaborators, and about the band’s deep connections to Minnesota. “I definitely have always thought of Semisonic as a Minneapolis band,” he says.
Listen to the interview above and read a transcript below.
Interview Transcript
Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, and I've got a special guest on the line this morning: singer, songwriter and Semisonic member Dan Wilson is with me this morning to talk about the new full-length Semisonic album, Little Bit of Sun. Good morning, Dan, how are you doing?
Dan Wilson: Hey, Jill, I'm great. Thank you.
Jill Riley: The last time we talked, Dan, I remember we'd spent quite a bit of time talking about the 25th anniversary of Feeling Strangely Fine. And then, you know, kicking off a new year with a couple nights with you guys at The Current's 18th anniversary weekend at First Avenue. Over the summer, I checked in with John when you guys were touring with Barenaked Ladies. And now we're bringing it up to the present. That's why I like this. So Dan, if you could talk about the, again, first full-length album in over 20 years, Little Bit of Sun?
Dan Wilson: Well, I mean, I can barely believe that we've done it. And it's been just a very sort of mind-blowing experience to make the record. And I'm just so happy that people are gonna hear it.
Jill Riley: Yeah. So, you know, it was just a couple years ago that we talked about a new EP, and I remember talking at the time about, you know, kind of the timing of it, and when you felt inspired, because you write songs with a lot of different artists. And when you felt inspired, like, "Oh, these are Semisonic songs." So I guess my question is, what was your approach to writing the songs for this new Semisonic full-length record? You know, did it feel nostalgic? Did it take you back? Or did it feel totally present?
Dan Wilson: Let's see, well, I had a couple interesting, maybe, stages along the way of writing this new album and doing it with the guys. First of all, the EP, You're Not Alone, it turned out really, really well, and I really felt like I had remembered how to write for the band. And one thing I realized is, you know, it might have been a bit of an impediment for me to be such a co-writer for other people's records. I learned how to kind of imagine someone else's voice on a song that I was working on. And I love that, and it can be really fun to do it with somebody else.
But with Semisonic, it was harder to do that for my voice somehow. And I had kind of a great breakthrough when I realized that really what I was writing for, as though I was writing for someone's voice was Semisonic, and I'm writing for John and Jake's bass and drum sound. Like when they play, that's the test of whether it's a Semisonic song. And so when I was writing these songs, I had two things in mind: I just wanted to be as emotionally real and honest as I possibly could when I was writing about stuff that was important to me; and I wanted to always kind of almost keep in my mind's ear the sound of John and Jake playing the songs, and would it be cool or not? And it worked.
Jill Riley: Yeah. I'm talking about Dan Wilson here on The Current about the new Semisonic full-length record, Little Bit of Sun. So Dan, could you talk about recording the record? Did you record it in Minneapolis?
Dan Wilson: Yes, we, all three of us, really wanted to make it sound like the band playing live as much as we could. So there was really no choice; we had to get together, and Minneapolis is halfway between Jake's home in New York in my home in Los Angeles. So we met four or five times in Minneapolis at Creation Audio over the past two years. And it was really nice to be back home. So like a way to get straight to the heart of things by just playing the songs together.
Jill Riley: Yeah, Creation Audio. I love the history of that building. And you drive by on Nicollet not even really realize it's there, and some don't realize the history that's been made in that space, you know, going back to K Bank Studios to then, you know, Twin Tone and, you know, is that a space that you really were looking forward to being in? I mean, you know, I hear of so many different recording studios in the Twin Cities, you know, what kind of drew you guys to, again, I don't know if there's a story behind wanting to record there, but I certainly understand why you'd want to be in Minneapolis, like you said, kind of logistical reasons but at the same time, you know, Semisonic is a Minneapolis band.
Dan Wilson: I can't say that I felt any kind of ghosts of past music when I was at Creation with the guys, but I definitely have always thought of Semisonic as a Minneapolis band, and it might have been strange to do the record anywhere else. And I think partly because I was, in the writing, I was trying to like get at a kind of, almost like a broad but really specific view of life as I'm experiencing it right now, I guess. I wanted to be OK with thinking about my history and the band's past and my sense of connection to my home. So it was really helpful, just almost in keeping myself and keeping us honest to do it in the place that we made all that music.
Jill Riley: When you think of Minneapolis, you know, thinking of it as home, what are some of the feelings that come up for you?
Dan Wilson: Oh, well, let's see, I've been thinking about Minnesota a lot lately for various family-related reasons. We used to go up to Grand Rapids every summer, my family did, when I was a kid. And that was when my brother Matt and I learned how to play guitar, and that was where my uncles taught me how to clean a fish. And other than school in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, really, I kind of feel like I grew up in northern Minnesota. So I've been thinking about home a lot lately. And, you know, some of the songs on the new album are very connected to that; I feel like "Don't Fade Away" is all about a sense of connection to that landscape, to those lakes, to nature, in northern Minnesota, and, you know, to my past. So I feel like there's a real Minnesota presence on the record.
Jill Riley: I'm talking with Dan Wilson of Semisonic about the brand new full-length record, Little Bit of Sun, Semisonic's first full-length album, in over two decades, in over 20 years. I know! But the lineup, I mean, you know, since the band formed, you know, it's been you and John Munson and Jake Slichter. And this incredible bond that you have as friends, and you know, in bands, I suppose there's a comparison of family and as people who make music together. Now, I noticed with this new record that there are a couple of guest appearances and some pretty great names: Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Jason Isbell playing guitar on one of the songs. Do you want to just talk about, you know, kind of bringing in some other sounds, some other guests on the record?
Dan Wilson: Oh my god! Well, let's see, I mean, in the writing, I've been such a collaborative songwriter. Even during Semisonic days, I was writing songs with other people, but not for the band. Since then, it's only been more and more of what I do as a musician is make music for other people's records and with them. And if I feel like it's good enough for my collaborators, then maybe it's good enough for me, and maybe it's good enough for my band. And there were a couple of songs that were just, it was obvious that even though I had written them with other people, we had to try them.
Like "Beautiful Sky" that I wrote with Jim James. Jim and I really wrote the song just for the joy of writing a song, and both Jim and I thought it turned out really great. Then when Semisonic started recording, I asked him, "Would it be cool if I had the band try to cut it?" And he was, yeah, he was totally down. And I think that version, that song turned out great. And then Jim came in and played some crazy guitar on it, which was really also fun to get somebody else's guitar voice on our stuff.
Similarly, I had written some songs with Amy Allen, "The Rope," with Amy and Yves Rothman. And a "Little Bit of Sun," Amy helped me on that song.
And I had written a couple of songs with Lori McKenna, who's an amazing artist that everybody probably knows about that they ought to check out if you haven't heard her, and she and I wrote "Only Empathy," which I really love, and "Out of the Dirt." And those turned out to sound perfectly awesome when Semisonic played them.
And then the last collaboration that we did on the recording process was with Jason Isbell. We had gotten "Out of the Dirt" and a couple other songs to a point where I had sort of done everything I could on the guitar, and so I asked him would he play guitar on three of the songs and, and he seemed actually excited to do it, and the session was great. And so he played this kind of wild lead guitar on "Out of the Dirt," and some beautiful front porch acoustic on "Don't Fade Away," which I really love. And Jason also added all those kind of 80s British goth rock guitars on "Keep Me in Motion" right from the get go in the song. And that was a surprise, because I'd never heard Jason play like that. So yeah, we kind of opened the doors to maybe more guests on the record. And I really enjoyed that a lot.
Jill Riley: We're talking about the new Semisonic record, the full-length, Little Bit of Sun. You know, over the summer, Dan, I checked in with John Munson when you guys were on tour, when you were doing dates in Minnesota, you were doing dates with Barenaked Ladies. And then John had talked about the song, "Little Bit of Sun," and I remember asking him — kind of putting him on the spot, which I like to do — I said, "Hey, what does this mean? I mean, is this another standalone single? Does this mean a new record?" He goes, "I don't think I'm supposed to say anything yet." It was great! But it wasn't long after before there was the announcement that there was a full-length record coming. So that's very exciting.
And just great that you guys are back together, you know, bringing in some guests and collaborators. But really, you know, at your core, Dan Wilson, John Munson, Jake Slichter with a new Semisonic record. So Dan, congratulations on it. And thank you so much for telling us about making the record and kind of taking us a little behind the scenes. So congratulations on the record and everything that's going on with you and yes, of course, Minnesota will always be your home. You're always welcome back.
Dan Wilson: Thank you, Jill.
Jill Riley: You could always move back, just in time for winter, Dan. Just in time for winter.
Dan Wilson: There are times in the fall that I just feel this sort of desperate urge to move back, actually.
Jill Riley: Yeah, and we had a really pretty one this year. Well, Dan, you take care, and I'm sure we'll talk to you sometime down the road, OK?
Dan Wilson: Thank you, Jill.
Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current. The new Semisonic record is due out this Friday.
External Links
Semisonic – official site
Dan Wilson – official site
