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Havok, for his part, keeps the wordplay
moody, ethereal and decidedly non-specif-
ic. The thundering chorus of “I Confess,”
for instance builds from skeletal verses yet
only hints at any kind of confession – the
perfect Gothic-cathedral metaphor to con-
jure up a miasmic sense of mystery with-
out having to get political or even explain
itself in too much detail. The singer
penned all the lyrics, and penned them
fast, says an awestruck Kanal, sometimes
overnight. Ergo, listeners can get suitably
creeped out by Dreamcar without fully
comprehending why. Or how. And he’s
suitably proud of the album, he says. His
litmus test? He can still play it, over and
again, without once getting tired of it. But
he wants to clarify one thing.
“We never set out to make something
that people would refer to as ‘80s-sound-
ing,’” Kanal swears. “It was more like,
‘Let’s just see what happens.’ But I think
inevitably, because we grew up during that
(New Wave/Post-punk) movement, that
time was so much a part of the fabric of our
lives, it was influential and inspiring.
Because those are the years when you’re a
teenager and that stuff just really embed-
ded itself in us. So it’s going to come out.
And it’s good to acknowledge that, and
that was just the natural direction tat we
started going in. There was never an over-
riding concept of what the band would be
– it’s only now that we can look back and
see that that was the direction it took,
although we never intended it. It just kind
of came naturally.”
And what of No Doubt? On March 14,
Kanal celebrated his 30th anniversary with
the band by posting an online clip recalling
how former member Chris Webb invited
him to the future supergroup’s first club
show, and suggested that he try out as
their new bassist. Again, kismet – by the
next week he had joined Stefani, whom he
would wind up dating, then breaking up
with, ironically leading to some of the
group’s biggest heartfelt hits. So No
Doubt, will continue – ahem, no doubt –
with its schedule not only dependent upon
Stefani’s, but that of Dreamcar, as well. The
album is that good, their future that rosy.
“When you’ve been playing music for a
long time, you just realize that what you
do is, you keep putting out stuff, you keep
working to create this continued history
and legacy,” he says. “And Dreamcar is
now a part of that. And I am so proud of
what we accomplished, and how we got to
this point.”
Through a serpentine journey that all
started with a feral tabby. And yes, the zen-
like Kanal wholeheartedly agrees, every-
thing in life happens for a reason. One that
perhaps only the universe understands at
that particular meowing-at-the-back-door
moment. “I don’t think we can ever figure
it out,” he says, comforting himself in the
process. “We only get glimpses of clarity
every once in a while…”
april
2017
illinoisentertainer.com
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