MILES PARKS, HOST:
Canadian musician Yves Jarvis recently released a deluxe version of his critically acclaimed album "All Cylinders." The album won this year's coveted Polaris Prize, awarded to the best Canadian album of the year. Jarvis was the only person featured on the album. He produced it, wrote it, and he played every single instrument, and we recently caught up with him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL CYLINDERS")
YVES JARVIS: (Singing) Moon keep on shining and spreading good tidings.
My journey for this record was, like, trying to write songs, trying to make arrangements, trying to make hooks. But usually I'm thinking more symbolically, and, like, I'm thinking in terms of, like, light. And that's kind of what started it and what drove it thematically, like, metal and light on metal and iridescent quality that I was trying to capture.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL CYLINDERS")
JARVIS: (Singing) I rush to reach you before its too late, firing all cylinders of this V8.
The music that was interesting me when I made the record was very much about storytelling, and it was very character-driven. And I was just listening to people that were, like, taking me on a ride, like, thematically, that was exciting to me. That was, like, a new frontier.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLD FILIGREE")
JARVIS: (Singing) Sometimes you need to eat. Reserve us the best two seats.
"Gold Filigree" - it's one of the first tracks I recorded when the album was really coming together. It came out of just a patchwork of percussion, as a lot of my stuff does. But I love to start with percussion.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLD FILIGREE")
JARVIS: (Singing) She had on gold filigree. Ooh, they have a perfect routine. Whoa, I bet you'd agree.
I had the phrase gold filigree in my head. Yeah, just this metalwork. I think it was just completely emblematic of what I'm trying to do musically. And so it became the imagery of the song and I think broadly the imagery of the record. And just sonically, it's got this sheen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLD FILIGREE")
JARVIS: (Singing) I wouldn't believe that you could deceive and just leave without saying so long.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAN IN HIS POMP")
JARVIS: (Singing) My friends all say, better go get myself set straight before that clock runs out. Better stop messing about.
"Man In His Pomp" - I took it out of the Bible. It was somewhere in Scripture, and I was like, that sounds like a good song. The song is about how degenerate the art life is and just at all levels. It's like, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. And I say it in the song. I say that's me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAN IN HIS POMP")
JARVIS: (Singing) Man in his pomp, man in his pomp, man in his pomp is me.
Play is such a big part of art. It's very much like being a child. I feel like there's, you know, so many great aspects of that. But then also it's like, I feel very detached from polite society, let's say. And "Man In His Pomp" is literally about that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WITH A GRAIN")
JARVIS: (Singing) Everything I say, take it with the grain. Ever since the start, I've been pricked in heart.
My favorite one is "With A Grain." It's, like, the first and last thing I did for the record. So it's like, the drums were recorded - I was, like, in Montreal, back in Montreal, and I was like, I know that I'm making this record. I don't know what I'm making. I don't have songs, whatever. And I went into my friend's studio and just recorded drums, added some stuff to that and sat on it for, like, basically two years and would just pile things on and then erase it all and started with the bass and then the guitars. I was experimenting with my tone, trying to make it sound like violin.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WITH A GRAIN")
JARVIS: (Singing) Through the dark of night, you bet your life. Look who tore a hole in your camisole. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just always working from that drum recording - and the one day that it clicked was like - it's just what it's all about for me.
PARKS: That was singer, songwriter and producer Yves Jarvis. His album, "All Cylinders," is out now. And you've been listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Miles Parks. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll do it again tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.