Human Highway Get Moody

10/27/08 5:34pm

by Noah Love (CHARTattack)

Before the August release of Human Highway's Moody Motorcycle, it's likely more than a few people wondered if Jim Guthrie would ever return to the music scene.

It had been five years since the release of his last solo record, Now, More Than Ever, and it had been another couple since his last live outing with Islands.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Guthrie says from his Toronto home, adding that he's working towards completing a new solo effort as you read this. "I just started working on it again now.

"I just recently moved and got settled and I have to do one thing at a time. I started to record a new record eight months ago. I did a week of that, and now I'm sort of at a point where I'm doing it all at home and I'm trying to do overdubs and get it done as fast as I can, like I'm rushing it. But I mean, nobody's waiting for my record except for the people who like my music. I haven't been out of the house much, so it's not like I have a label waiting, which is good. It means I can just work on it."

While you wait on that, you can hear Guthrie and former Islands bandmate Nick Thorburn on the Human Highway debut, a collection of breezy pop songs with a '70s feel.

Thorburn and Guthrie had talked about doing a record together since they toured with the former's regular band. But beyond that, neither knew if their recording sessions at Guthrie's house would amount to anything.

"It wasn't really planned," says Guthrie. "We just sort of came together.

"I guess we sort of said at the start that it was supposed to be like a '50s Everly Brothers, whatever people are throwing around. But we like the same kind of music and we come from the same sort of background in terms of music, indie rock.

"So there was a lot that we had in common and we liked each other's music. It was an easy place to start from. But we didn't really know what we were gonna get when we started. It has kind of an odd sound, but we knew that we wanted to sing a lot together, so I sang on all of his songs and he sang on all of mine."

As for performing, neither Guthrie or Thorburn are sure if a tour will happen. Like most of the attitude they have toward Human Highway, it's more a case of if it works out, great, if not, oh well.

"I think we weren't [planning to tour] initially because we're not even really a band," Guthrie jokes. "We've never played the songs from start to finish, it's all sort of pieced together track by track.

"It's a side project to Nick's Islands and I've got to finish my own record, but now it's sort of seeming like, we've gotten some emails and there's some pressure. And we do want to do it. It's just making it work, learning the songs and getting a band together.

"So we will probably do it, but it won't be until next year, maybe January, because Nick's got a lot of Islands stuff before then, and if I have that deadline then I can be like, 'OK, yeah, I'm gonna finish my record by the time I'm going to do stuff with Nick.' Then I'll come out with my record and start all over again."

So, at the very least, you'll likely be seeing a lot of Guthrie in 2009.

"I think," he concludes, "if you look on the Chinese calendar, this is the year of Jim."