05/2018

Every time there’s a new Todd Rundgren album, some critic somewhere hails it as a “return to form.”

This always brings a chuckle from the artist, who prides himself on not having a “form.” In his mind, the writer is probably referring to the sweet, carefully layered pop music that made Rundgren famous in the early days; that, or his guitar-heavy glam-rock gems.

Either way, Rundgren says, “It’s only gonna be temporary anyway. Once I return to form, I can’t help but wander off in some other direction shortly after that.”

The phrase has reappeared with the release of White Knight, Rundgren’s 25th solo album. Featuring collaborations with a cross-section of genre-bending artists, it’s richly melodic, a rewarding audio adventure. And it’s “accessible” — not one of Rundgren’s favorite words — in a way that his last record, 2015’s dance-party platter Global, wasn’t.

“I tend not to do the same thing twice because I don’t feel like it’s my purpose to do that,” he explains. “Some artists spend their whole lives trying to find a formula that brings them success, and then they’ll mine that formula until the cows come home. And I always felt that I have to be different — not only different from other artists, but also different from myself. So that I don’t get in a rut by doing the same thing over and over again.”

Read the full article here.

Interesting stuff. I just saw an interview where he was really bashing XTC and especially Andy Partridge. He produced their Skylarking album, and I think it's his best production. Some really ingenious arrangements on there. But he came across as a bit of an ass in the interview, to be honest. Although I have heard from others Andy could be something of a control freak. I'm sure there's truth to both sides of the story. I can link to the interview if anyone cares to hear it.

Interested to check out his new music...

I like Tin Foil Hat but all I hear is a Donald Fagen song - does Rundgren even sing on it.?