Hallucinations finds David Usher on a very good trip

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/10/2003 (8263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FOR many of today’s rock stars, “herb” tends to mean echinacea and Evian has replaced Jack Daniels as the refreshment of choice.

Still, there were snickers when David Usher called his latest album Hallucinations, as if the former Moist frontman were more interested in Thai stick than Thai food during his frequent Asian visits.

But in fact, all the hallucinations are metaphorical on the Canadian musician’s third solo disc. He uses the term to explore an age-old philosophical question: How can two people really understand each other?

“It’s about perspective. Everybody thinks their own view of the world is reality, but we would be quite surprised to see the world through others’ eyes,” says the 37-year-old singer-songwriter, who returns to Winnipeg this Wednesday to play the Colosseum.

“We naturally assume everybody sees the world the same way. But if we did see it through someone else’s eyes, the perspective would appear bent.”

Recorded with the help of Moist keyboardist Kevin Young and bassist Jeff Pearce (“we’re all still good friends,” says Usher), Hallucinations follows on the Canadian success of Morning Orbit. That album yielded a massive radio hit in Black Black Heart, easily the best pop single of Usher’s recording career.

But the disc and its operatic single were never released in the United States.

“I deserve a share of the blame,” Usher says. “It takes a big commitment to tour the U.S. and I was more interested in travelling and enjoying my life at the time.”

Usher’s wanderlust took him to Taiwan and back to Thailand, his mother’s ancestral home. This year, he’s focusing on Canada, assembling a live band that includes a few of his former Moist bandmates and guitarist Kim Bingham, formerly of Montreal ska band Me, Mom & Morgentaler.

The live show remains more rock ‘n’ roll than the sound of Usher’s recordings, especially the airy and ethereal-sounding Hallucinations. As he matures past angry-guy-with-a-mike age, he continues to move further from the post-grunge sound of Moist — as well as his old pretty-boy image.

“I didn’t even put my face on the cover of this one,” he says. “It definitely feels better. People are reviewing the record on its own merits, instead of looking at a lot of other things.”

Tickets for Wednesday’s show are $17.50 at 694-7469.

CATCH A RELEASE

THIS week’s batch of new CDs by Winnipeg recording acts includes the debut by rock band Blush, a new disc from singer-songwriter Beth Martens and a rootsy pop recording by a previously unknown trio called Heir.

Blush, one of the winners of a talent search conducted by Power 97 FM, is a slick, commercial rock band with big aspirations and even bigger production values on Crowded Alone, produced by Studio 11’s Brandon Friesen. Blush plays two showcases at a music-industry-oriented release party this Tuesday, Nov. 4, at the Pyramid Cabaret.

The same night finds Martens, formerly known as Vijaya, unveiling material from her new album, Where There’s Beauty, during a 30-minute set at the Grant Park McNally Robinson. Winnipeg’s Dan Donahue produced the album and also joins Martens live.

Finally, Heir does the honours for its Following The Low Voice this Saturday at McIvor Avenue Church, 200 McIvor Ave.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca