www.heartlinker.eu | ann & nancy wilson of heart

NEW ALBUM 2010

When: July 2010.

Arizona Daily Star on January 201o: Set to be released in July, the album follows 2004’s “Jupiter’s Darling.” It’s the fruit of years of touring with this lineup of musicians, which Nancy Wilson calls strong and exciting.
Management on January 5th: “March will most likely not happen as we would’ve had a label and marketing team on by now to support a March release”
Heart management on December 30th 2009: “Final mixing is scheduled for January – Ann and Nancy won’t be attending any trade shows”
Nancy Wilson in December 2009: “It shouldn’t take us much longer. I hope to finish it all up and we’ll put it out in the spring“
Heart management in November 2009: “The next photo shoot that you will see, was done at a secret location, and will come out when the album promo is released“
Nancy Wilson in September 2009: “It’s coming out pretty early in the new year“.
Nancy Wilson in June 2009: “I know it will be out this coming year, but I can’t give you any more specific time frame than that.“
On June 6th management said the following: Heart will be in the studio during the week of June 10th 2009, and has opted not to perform in St Louis, but to work on their upcoming album.
Hopefully Christmas 2009 or first quarter 2010, according to the band´s management in May 2009.
Heart started recording on January 19th 2009. After the 2009 tour, recording will start again in October 2009.
In a press release (March 23rd 2009) from Ascap it was stated that the album will be released next year.

Title: ???

Management: “Ann & Nancy have already named the record. Nancy was misquoted in the article. She said i was just told that I wasn’t supposed to tell you…(to the interviewer) it has something to do with the website. We aren’t going to announce the name until closer to release date”.
Arizona Daily Star, January 2010: “Wilson won’t disclose the album’s name – there’s a fan club contest centered on it -”
Ben Smith, August 2009: “as yet to be named”
Ann, April 2009: “It doesn’t even have a working title yet”

Label: no label yet

January 2010, management: “There is label interest and there is always that possibility they’ll go indie again. It’s really up to them and what the majors bring to the table for any consideration on which direction“
April 2009, Nancy Wilson: “We’re just really looking skeptically at all the (label) options right now.”
January 2009, management: “not yet. Many are interested, both major and independent”.

Producer: Ben Mink. Engineer: David Leonard

December 2009, Nancy Wilson: ”Ben is just incredibly talented. He plays fiddle and anything with strings on it. It’s sort of like playing with someone we’ve worked with all our lives,” she says. “It’s a beautiful match and we’re really enjoying the whole process this time. He’s someone we’ve been romancing for quite a while. He’s got the sound that we’re looking for now, and have been for a long time.“ That sound is a return to the band’s ’70s analog roots. “We’ve been approaching it on a really human level. There’s not a digital construct anywhere,” she says. “We are putting up baffles and playing together at the same time: drums, bass and guitars, all at once, in the same room, looking at each other and jiving off each other, so that it’s really a conversation in process. It’s not painting by colors — it’s a performance, a conversation.”
September 2009, Nancy Wilson: “We’re working with Ben Mink, the producer who got a Grammy with k.d. lang for “Ingenue” and worked with Barenaked Ladies and did stuff with Feist on her last solo album as well. He’s a producer we’ve sort of been trying to court for 10 years, and we find that the new songs are really sounding incredible.”
August 2009, Ben Smith: “I was pleased to hear that producer Ben Mink and engineer David Leonard were on board, and I was excited to see what we could do.”
April 2009, Reuters UK: So far, they have recorded about eight songs, and will return to the studio in a few weeks with producer Ben Mink, who is best known as k.d. lang’s collaborator.
March 2009, management: “Ben Mink is now attached as the producer of the record”
January 2009, management: “When one is attached other than Nancy – I’ll post it.“
January 2009, management: “They are laying down basic tracks – no producer has been attached yet. (why pay big bucks when you are laying down basics)“
December 2008, management: “Producer is not attached yet”.
October 2007, management: “Nancy will produce again… and she would like to write some songs with Ben Mink… but until the process starts, who knows. Its a little too early to tell at this point”.

Band: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Craig Bartock, Ben Smith, Debbie Shair and Rick Markmann.

September 2007, management: “The current line up of Heart will be recording a new album next year and will tour behind it“

Songs:

January 2010, Nancy Wilson: “It’s not just big rock, big metal or electronic sound. It’s really human,” she says. “But it also rocks harder because of that, because it’s more personal. There’s a lot of electric and a lot of acoustic and big drums and small moments. We’re kind of a variety show in that way. But it’s real cohesive. “So see it’s hard to describe: ‘It’s really cohesive, but it’s really dynamic, but it’s really hard, but it’s really soft.’ I guess you have to hear it.”
January 2010, management: On March 5th Heart will play new material from their forthcoming album in Seattle.
January 2010, management: “Yes“, a new version of Sand is still considered for the new album.
December 2009, Heartboy jokes; “I’m not buying it if there is no hint of the 80’s sound.” Management responds: “Heartboy – be prepared to be $14.00 richer!”
December 2009, Ann & Nancy Wilson in their Xmas greeting video: “All songs written, all songs tracked, not all of the 14 will probably make it onto the album!”
December 2009 publishing of a September video of Nancy: she tells us songs have been written with Craig and also with Ben Mink. It’s the best one yet according to Ann. Hopefully after Christmas we can hear some stuff!
December 2009, management about a photo in the fanclub section of the official site: “This was taken while she was recording a new song for the yet untitled new release. The song is tentatively titled, “WTF.”"
December 2009, Nancy Wilson: “We only have a couple more songs to record. We have 10 songs pretty much ready.”
September 2009, Nancy Wilson: “Now we’re working on a new album, which is again more of a rootsier thing. We’re working with Ben Mink, the producer who got a Grammy with k.d. lang for “Ingenue” and worked with Barenaked Ladies and did stuff with Feist on her last solo album as well. He’s a producer we’ve sort of been trying to court for 10 years, and we find that the new songs are really sounding incredible.” “In some ways, it’s a fresh sound that still has its roots in the very beginning sounds, the very first sounds we had in the ’70s, when everybody was playing in the same room, with eye contact and having a real human dialogue musically – not a digital construct. That’s an exciting sound for us to be working on right now. It’s coming out pretty early in the new year. We’re getting close. Between the tours, we’re doing the album”. “We’re on tour right now in between recording sessions. So we’ve been really busy putting together the songs for the new album”.
August 2009, Ben Smith: “All in all, a great start to the new Heart record, ranging from a quiet, intimate sound to full rock. We’ve got ten rhythm-section basics done so far, with more coming later this fall.” “So far the songs have come from Ann, Nancy, and Craig Bartock, the guitarist I’ve been playing in Heart with for six years. We’ve all been creating arrangements and figuring out parts together. We’re all offering ideas and ways of approaching the arrangements, and it feels great! We started earlier this year with demos of a few songs. Since Ben came on board, he, Ann, and Nancy have whittled the list a bit and picked songs to start for the recordings.”
August 2009, Nancy Wilson: “So far, what we’ve been doing is heavy acoustic rock,” Wilson said of the new record. “Our engineer knows how to record acoustic guitars like no one else. It’s an extremely heavy, human sound. It’s all of us playing together at the same time in the same room, so there’s a performance aspect not constructed in the studio. … When you’re actually having a conversation with other players, it only happens in a room. It’s a rare thing.”
July 2009, Nancy Wilson: “The sound of the album so far is really shaping up to be almost like the earliest of the early Heart,” said Nancy Wilson. “It’s very ‘all together,’ it’s a band thing — together in the same room. It’s a vibe that only a band gets when it plays together.” Expect more Wilson sister harmonies on the new album and a return to a harder rock sound reminiscent of the band’s 1970s era, said Nancy Wilson. It’s going to be a cool album,” said Wilson, who explains that the group’s reduced output of new music in recent years is due to family obligations.
June 2009, Nancy Wilson: “Wilson adds that recording has been done so far in Los Angeles and in various hotel rooms during the group’s tours. She also expects to log some studio time in Seattle. Song titles so far include “Hey You” and “Closer,” and Wilson says the recording process has been organic. “We’re recording with just a real woodshed, small acoustic element, people playing together at the same time and (in) the same room — like what they used to call a hootenanny,” explains Wilson, who hopes to debut some of the new songs live this summer. “There’s no ProTools feel to it at all. We’re just sitting around playing guitars together and going for a performance that is on the spot.”
April 2009, Ann Wilson: We’re about eight songs in”
April 2009, management about the song “Queen City“: “Its a dreamy track that rocks and soars….but is pretty mellow”
April 2009, Nancy Wilson confirmed at ASCAP that Heart will record “Sand” again for the new album. Sand was released first on the Whirlygig album by The Lovemongers, Ann & Nancy’s side-project in the 90s.
April 2009, Reuters: So far, they have recorded about eight songs, and will return to the studio in a few weeks with producer Ben Mink, who is best known as k.d. lang’s collaborator. Nancy Wilson described the songs so far as “very personal, very honest, vital … not always super-serious either. But quite romantic. Leaning toward poetic as hard as we can!” Nancy will take a greater share of the vocal duties as the sisters experiment more with harmonies. “It’s just a way of reinventing, and having more fun, and taking some of the pressure off of Ann as a singer.”
March 2009, management: “4 new songs were recorded while I was away”, referring to the first week of March 2009.
February 2009, Nancy Wilson: “Right now we’re trying to keep the paychecks and the album happening at the same time,” Wilson says with a laugh. “The operative word here — the party line — is ‘masterpiece.’ Creating a masterpiece takes a little longer than creating just any old song. So while we’re touring and raising children, we’re trying to come up with a masterpiece — and it may take a couple of weeks.” Lasvegassun.com: When they aren’t on the road or taking care of their families, they’re writing songs and in the studio working on Heart’s 14th album, which probably won’t be released till next year. PE.com: Wilson said they’ve only been recording for a couple of weeks so the new songs won’t be road tested just yet.
January 2009, management: “Ann is laying down vocals today…Nancy is sitting in the booth with the engineer – and they both (Ann & Nancy) are discussing harmonies over the talk back microphone.This songs working title is “Closer“”
January 2009, management: “This comment was just made by Ben Smith – “I think we’ve just played every single note and in every single time signature”. “This song is smoking fast – pretty heavy and awesome all wrapped up together…” “BLUES HARP we have Blues harp….” “
January 2009, management: “Queen city Is the tentative title of the song they are working on today. Its about Seattle… it features drop tunings and stand up bass”
January 2009, management: “Ann laid down some scratch tracks yesterday. Debbie added pump organ to the first song. Craig added some electric guitar over the top of the acoustic tracks. Today they are starting on a new song.”
January 2009, management: “First song that they are laying down features Nancy’s mandolin… Rough vocal tracks and some isolation booth dubs are going to happen later today”.
December 2008, management: “So far they’ve written five songs”. “5 songs have been started on. We haven’t heard any rough tracks yet. Nancy, Ann and Craig are getting together next week to write some more.“
September 2008, Nancy: “It will thread together thematically from top to bottom”. “It’ll be a complete experience instead of a collection of songs, and it’ll have more of a cinematic feel to it”.
July 2008, Ann: “Nancy’s tour bus is actually kind of ‘demo central’ right now”. The new songs are written by the Wilsons and current Heart guitarist Craig Bartock.
November 2007, Ann: “We’re just getting going on the new album right now. It’s still very formative. Nancy has a big idea for it to be a concept album having to do with our family, our parents and our story“. Nancy revealed to the public that they are reworking “Sand” for the next Heart album.
May 2007, Nancy: “Yea! We have been writing new songs for new Heart album that is a concept album. We got a long ways yet. We have about 3 or 4 songs done. It’s a lot different from other stuff; it’s a true line concept album

Sand, ASCAP April 2009

Nancy Wilson on the new album, September 2009

3 Comments

jon.macvean on May 9th, 2009

i hope the new heart studio album in 2010 has a few ballad songs on it with keyboards i was not that impressed with jupitars darling thanks jon macvean

david yuenger on July 29th, 2009

I can’t wait! I did like Jupiter’s Darling. At first I was undecided, but after listening to it a couple of times I loved it. It really brought out the rock and roll inside of Heart that I had been missing. Cant wait for the new tour!!!

Michael on November 29th, 2009

still no idea on the label at such a late date in the game :)