Lizz Wright to Release New CD in June

Singer Lizz Wright is set to release her second album, Dreaming Wide Awake, on June 14 on Verve Forecast. Wright caught the attention of listeners with her 2003 debut Salt, also on Verve Forecast, but she said her sophomore effort is a much more “intimate” and “stripped down” album.

“As a singer I changed my approach. I just really wanted to stop and realize that everyone that I loved listening to [wasn’t] necessarily known for having immaculate voices,” she said. “They were known for being very, very human and opening themselves, so I really wanted to get to that.”

Wright recorded Dreaming at Allaire Studios in Woodstock, N.Y. with producer Craig Street, which Wright said was a unique experience. “I think that one of the best things that came out of working with Craig was that [he] kind of just took on the role almost like a mentor in a way… [He] kind of tricked me into not worrying about what people about thought and just make a record I really would enjoy”

During the early stages of Dreaming, Street and Wright exchanged mix CDs to come up with a collection of music they both liked. What they came up with were three original pieces written or co-written by Wright and interpretations of songs by Neil Young, Joe Henry, Ella Jenkins and others. In interpreting the covers, Wright said she and Street “just stripped [the songs] down to lyrics and feelings and stories, like the real basic parts of it, and took it from there… I tried to make it something I could really wear and really experiment with. For me as a songwriter especially it’s almost like a field trip.”

For Wright, the songwriting process is more linked with acknowledgment than sheer creativity. “Songwriting for me is when you realize you’re being encircled by some message or some story or some experience and you stop to pay attention to it… It’s like this code that you have to stop and make the time to break down, you know?”

Originally Published April 21, 2005