Fresh from a string of well-received U.K. and European performances, Peyroux will hit the road in North America beginning with a June 18 show at NYC’s Town Hall, followed by stops scattered around the U.S. and Canada through early September.
Earlier this year the singer told the Associated Press recording an album filled with her own work felt like going full circle.
“It’s almost as if I were doing my first album over again,” Peyroux said. “It feels like I have a clean slate to work with artistically … I think it’s what’s going to keep me going.”
To help craft the album, the singer drafted producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell), who worked with her on 2004’s Careless Love and 2006’s Half the Perfect World. Klein in turn called on songwriters Jesse Harris (Norah Jones), Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Joe Henry, Julian Coryell, David Batteau and others to add their magic to the mix.
“At the very beginning, on Careless Love, Maddie was very clear that her dream was to sing the songs that she wrote … and I could tell she had the seed of being a great writer inside her, because … she knows what makes a good song,” Klein said. “I think this record has really given her the confidence to dedicate herself to exploring songwriting in a committed way.”
That exploration included looking into the dark corners to find the inspiration for tracks like “River of Tears,” which deals with Peyroux’s relationship with her alcoholic father who died in 2005.
“I would say that the central theme of the record is that you can survive anything,” Klein explained.