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When David Archuleta cut his first CD during the demanding fifty-three show Idol tour, it was pretty much a corporate affair. There was a minimum of input from him and precious little time to offer it up anyway. Often he must have been given a song and expected to learn it quickly in order to get it recorded on his next rare day off. In interviews promoting the album, he frequently injected the caveat that it was all done in a hurry.
Despite such time and artistic restraints, he delivered a jewel in the eponymous album, “David Archuleta,” which by the alchemy of exquisite vocals and ecstatic fans, was transmuted into gold shortly after its first single became platinum.
Fast forward to 2010 and a completely different scenario: his new album titled “The Other Side of Down” was produced in a period of several months, months that were devoted almost entirely to its creation and are much the work of David himself. Of the twelve songs that made the album, ten were written by him.
The release of his sophomore album on October 5th of this year may well presage a release of something more. In performances of two preview songs that will be on the album, “Something ‘Bout Love” and “Elevator,” he has shown an expansion in confidence and a more liberal use of runs and vocal improvisations. In these works he had a sizable hand in creating, we sense an unmistakable pride in ownership and a joy that comes from connecting deeply with his work. These are songs that matter to him. They are in a very real sense, his heart and soul laid bare, his unique, quirky personality, desires, and dreams exposed. The act of creation is not reserved to procreation alone. For an artist, his works are his children and the connection to them is very real and personal.
Those who have followed his career and attended his concerts know that besides his voice, David possesses another gift, equally extraordinary. He has the ability to literally go into a song, tap into the emotion that lays beating at its core and convey that message back to the listener.
In a recent interview with Fox News he talked about writing his own songs and the importance of connecting to the music and ultimately, to the listener
“It’s made a really big difference in allowing myself to come through into the music and being able to talk about what is important to me and what I feel represents me…as an artist and as a person and…I feel like people will be able to connect a lot more with what I’m singing about because I’ll be able to connect to it. I feel more like this means something to me and it’s my story and this is my personality and me that’s in here.”
In short, he will “tell it to us and make us understand” who he really is inside. If the old saying, “to know him is to love him,” is true, then we must also understand this: whatever release in artistic expression this means for David, there will be no release for us, his fans.
With the unveiling of his sophomore album and the tour to follow, we will find ourselves even more connected to him than we already are.
