No escape from The Cult and duo’s just fine with that

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/04/2008 (6397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It would have been easy for Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy to put The Cult back together and tour the world as a nostalgia act on the strength of their back catalogue.

But it would have been too easy. Instead, the longtime songwriting partners wrote a batch of new songs together and released Born Into This, a surprisingly strong album that fits perfectly alongside older favourites like Electric and Sonic Temple.

“We wanted to show we could play the hits and dig up old songs, but write new songs that hold up — that’s where the challenge is, and for me and Ian, that’s important,” guitarist Duffy says. “Some bands are happy to play the hits and make dough, but we’re not like that,”

The album is the first for The Cult since 2001’s Beyond Good and Evil, for which Duffy and Astbury reunited after six years apart. The first reunion was derailed by record-label troubles, but with a new deal with Roadrunner and a newfound sense of purpose, neither Duffy nor Astbury see an end to this current incarnation, which stops at the Centennial Concert Hall Wednesday (tickets are $39 and $45 at Ticketmaster).

“It depends upon the quality of the work we’re doing and if the desire is there to do it,” says vocalist Astbury.

“The Cult works best when it’s got something to say, if there’s an intention behind what we’re doing. It’s just a job if there’s no intention. I’m committed to this album, emotionally and spiritually,” says the singer, who decided to reform the Cult following four years fronting The Doors of the 21st Century, doing his best Jim Morrison impersonation in front of original Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robbie Krieger.

“I had to learn over 40 songs and not only learn the lyrics, but the nuance, certain sentiments and actions in songs, and so from that perspective I really had to go away and do my homework,” he says of his stint with the revamped classic rock act. “I had a responsibility to myself to be the best I could be, and also to Ray and Robbie. I had to raise my standings and I’m trying to bring that intelligence now to the work I do and standards and my performances. I learned a lot.”

Astbury was singing Morrison’s lyrics night after night while writing his own on the side. He eventually realized what he was working on was more appropriate for The Cult and contacted Duffy. The pair assembled a band, started performing again and recorded a demo for the song I Assassin during an Argentinean tour as a litmus test to see if the old songwriting magic was still there. It was and soon the duo started working on a full album, Duffy says.

“Once we get back together, it’s like it always was. It was a familiar relationship. We’re pretty connected: that voice and my guitar. The vibe’s on, man. When it’s good, it’s good.”

While Astbury was touring with the Doors, Duffy lived in California and played in a cover band with Alice in Chain’s Jerry Cantrell. He had just released an album with the band Circus Diablo, featuring Ricky Warwick of The Almighty and ex-Fuel vocalist Brett Scallions), when he got the call to rejoin Astbury, whom he first started playing with in 1983 in the band Death Cult. (Coincidentally, Scallions is now fronting Riders on the Storm, the name the Doors of the 21st Century now go by.)

“Everyone knew if the Cult was available to me, that’s what I would do,” Duffy says.

The time away from The Cult allowed Astbury to rejuvenate and cultivate some new life experiences that helped form the songs on Born Into This, he says. He describes the lyrics as the most personal of his career; the songs about his life and relationships are laid bare, with less symbolism and fewer metaphors than he relied on in the past.

“Diamonds is about my girlfriend Paula, her character; it’s something I know. Holy Mountain is about how we met and our relationship — it’s a real heartfelt, earnest baring of the soul.

“In a lot of ways I’m liberated. I’m not afraid of sharing myself that way anymore. I’m a lot more intimate, a lot more mature. The Cult is more mature.”

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca