Andy Kim, Kevin Drew's unlikely friendship manifests in new LP 'It's Decided' | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Andy Kim, Kevin Drew's unlikely friendship manifests in new LP 'It's Decided'

Original Publication Date February 27, 2015 - 2:05 AM

TORONTO - Andy Kim's last album was called "Happen Again" and for a while it seemed that it might not.

The record, Kim's first collection of songs in decades, was released in 2010. The Montreal-reared pop songwriter had made hay long before as a Brill Building prodigy, who co-penned the Archies classic "Sugar, Sugar" not long after turning sweet 16.

He had a chart-topper of his own with 1974's "Rock Me Gently" and climbed the charts with other writers' hits on several occasions, most notably with 1969's "Baby, I Love You" and "Be My Baby" the next year.

After a fairly indifferent reaction to "Happen Again," however, Kim wasn't certain he still had an audience.

"I had no idea there was going to be a next album," he said recently.

That changed, thanks in large part to the diligent enthusiasm of Kevin Drew. The Broken Social Scene singer had become friendly with Kim after playing his annual for-charity Christmas show in Toronto.

They soon found they were common sorts, with Drew drawn in by Kim's kind geniality and proclivity for soul-surfing profundity.

"I love how much he believed in the universe," Drew said. "It made me giggle, but it also made me feel warm.

"He's a dreamer," he added. "To hang out with someone who doesn't compare themselves to anyone else, who doesn't think they deserve anything ... I bought in."

With Drew acting as producer, the suddenly close-knit duo crafted the just-released "It's Decided," a decidedly contemporary record layering Kim's still-honeyed vocals over gossamer, grown-up pop.

Kim, in his early 60s, was raised on a formal studio approach defined by concrete three-hour blocks of creativity: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m to 5 p.m, 7 p.m to 10 p.m.

That, of course, was thrown out the window with the involvement of the unorthodox Drew.

"Working with Kevin, it's like: 'Hey, how about we get together, have dinner and talk about what we're going to do,'" Kim recalled. "A couple of bottles of wine later ... it's 1 o'clock, you're ready for bed. And Kevin says: 'OK, let's go to the studio.... Let's do something.' I said, 'But what?' He said, 'We'll know when we get there.'

"And that was when I affirmed that we are kindred spirits."

On the plaintive space jam "Why Can't I," Kim yearns: "Why can't I ever find my way?" Such bittersweet ruminations are threaded throughout the record, but Kim resists any self-pity about the professional obscurity that gradually descended upon him.

Drew, however, acknowledges the uphill battle faced by the duo.

"Andy might think he has something to prove," Drew mused. "People shut their doors on him. It's a classic story of nobody wanted to work with him. When I started with him, people couldn't understand. Peers of mine were like: 'OK, well, we're not sure why you're doing this, but we'll get behind you.'

"Once the doors close, it's so difficult to get them open again. I just said to Andy: 'I don't think we need to be walking through these hallways anymore. Let's just go outside. Maybe people will come out and hang out with us.'"

Whatever the result of their partnership, Kim is — of course — sage.

"I don't think it's anybody else's responsibility to like my music," he said. "I never expected anything on any front. I had a dream as a kid wanting to sing like the Beatles, wanting to be onstage, and having girls chase me.

"That was the deal. Whatever came around that would be bonus."

— Follow @CP_Patch on Twitter

News from © The Canadian Press, 2015
The Canadian Press

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