After more than three decades as the lead singer and guitarist for Barenaked Ladies, Ed Robertson has a routine when it comes time to start writing songs for a new album. ‘I tend to get ideas while I’m driving up to my lake house,’ he says. ‘I record voice memos along the way, and then I listen back and try to make sense of them and mix and match the various ideas I’ve come up with. On a typical drive, I’m happy if I get six or seven—eight ideas would be a good drive. ‘For this album,’ he continues, ‘on my first writing trip I had 21 different song ideas. I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool.’ Then I sat down to write, and I thought if I could finish one of them—get the verses, get the bridge, get the chorus in one day—then I’ll know this whole writing period is going to be good. And I finished eight songs. I sat down at 10 in the morning, and I looked up at 9:30 and I hadn’t eaten, I hadn’t moved from the writing table. It was exciting. I’ve never felt that before.’
The results mark a new chapter for a band that’s sold more than 15 million albums, earned Grammy nominations and won multiple Juno Awards, and in 2018, were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In Flight, BNL’s eighteenth studio album, retains the dry wit and keen observation we expect from Robertson, bassist Jim Creeggan, keyboardist/guitarist Kevin Hearn and drummer Tyler Stewart, but adds a strong sense of maturing and lessons learned.