Patrick Watson touring Europe with sold-out shows for his 5th album
Patrick Watson says he's getting visceral reaction to his new songs
Patrick Watson is clearly excited about his European tour.
After a sold-out show in Amsterdam and a London appearance tonight, Watson already has a good idea that his new album, Love Songs for Robots, is working.
Speaking today before his set tonight at London's Shepherd's Bush Hall, a pumped Watson told Daybreak he's excited to share the new songs with a live audience.
"At first, it's nerve-wracking in the beginning a bit because you're finding your feet. But at the same time, this record has got the best response of all the records we've done live in terms of people not knowing the songs and responding immediately."
Nerves aside, he recognizes the pleasure he gets from playing music for strangers.
"When we walk on stage, we're just kind of happy to make noise for people and enjoy a great evening," he said.
"There's not much more to think about than that. Hey, I'm gonna spend a wonderful evening with a bunch of strangers in all these different places and share a musical experience. It's a fairly simple thing for us. No matter which city and which sold-out show, we're still always playing for people and people are people."
Accompanying him is the band that won the Polaris Music Prize in 2007. The same one that played to more than 100,000 people at the 2009 Montreal Jazz Festival.
Watson says the new album is inspired by his interest in science fiction and, musically, by the soundtrack for the movie Blade Runner.
He says he meant this album to be less cerebral and more appealing "to the belly".
"It's a very visceral record. It's not as airy and psychedelic as the other ones. It's a bit more grounded in a weird way so I guess people really respond to it well."
After London, Watson and his band head to Paris for a third sold out show, then Berlin and Brussels before coming back to North America at the end of May.
They'll play Osheaga in Montreal in August.
Love Songs for Robots officially drops tomorrow, but you can stream it now on cbcmusic.ca.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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