A children’s album, a new studio effort and a cruise are on Barenaked Ladies’ 2008 docket.
The Canadian quintet is in a Toronto studio finishing up the children’s set with producer Michael Phillip, who worked with the band on its 1992 debut “Gordon” and 1996’s “Born on a Pirate Ship.” Bassist Jim Creeggan tells Billboard.com that “they’re shorter tunes — a lot of short songs, and all awesome. We wrote just as hard for these as we did for any other record, but you have to think from a kids’ perspective. You have to really refine it so it’s palatable to them — and also fun.”
Among the songs slated for the as-yet-untitled record, which should come out in the spring on the group’s own Desperation Records label, are “Popcorn,” “Here Comes the Geese,” “Humongous Tree” and “Polywog in a Bog.” “We’re bringing back that word, polywog,” Creeggan says. “I think tadpole has trumped it for far too long.”
The bassist says the impetus for the album came from the Ladies’ own family circumstances. “In some ways it’s now or never, ’cause our kids are of age,” explains Creeggan, who has two children. “We have 11 kids in total belonging to the band. It seems like our heads are in a good place to do this now.”
It’s not the only music BNL will produce for 2008, however. Creeggan says the group plans to hit the studio again in the spring for the follow-up to this year’s “Barenaked Ladies Are Men.” “I think a couple of the guys have got some things up their sleeves,” Creeggan says. “We’ll take a lot of writing time, a couple months to flesh out some ideas in January and February, and around March we’ll start (recording).” He expects a late summer or fall release, to be followed by a tour.
Amidst all this, BNL will be hosting its Ships & Dip III cruise from Jan. 27-Feb. 1. The group will also perform at the annual charity gala for the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 18 in Detroit.
