DATE: JUNE 9, 2000
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN @ MSO BOBBIE GALE/MARIA MALTA/MICHELE MENA @ CAPITOL RECORDS
EVERYTHING IS "WONDERFUL" FOR EVERCLEAR;
PREMIER SINGLE FROM GROUP'S FORTHCOMING CD IS #1 MOST ADDED AT ALL ROCK RADIO FORMATS;
SONG ROCKETS TO #5 ON BILLBOARD'S 'MODERN ROCK' CHART
Everything is looking "Wonderful" for EVERCLEAR. As they gear up for the release of their new CD SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. ONE: LEARNING HOW TO SMILE July 11 on Capitol Records, the premier single "Wonderful" is the #1 most added track at all rock radio formats this week, airing on over 200 stations. The song jumped to #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in only its third week of release. On the live front, EVERCLEAR-songwriter/singer/guitarist ART ALEXAKIS, drummer GREG EKLUND and bassist CRAIG MONTOYA–have been performing an array of concerts at radio station festivals, with an appearance set for Los Angeles radio station KROQ's annual "Weenie Roast" June 17th at Edison International Field in Anaheim.
"Wonderful" is a poignant view of divorce through a child's eyes, set against a defiantly upbeat melody. ALEXAKIS recently told Alternative Press magazine that the song is "…a kid's perspective on divorce-how they feel, what they think, and what they remember after it happens." This theme is underlined in the video, which marks ALEXAKIS' directorial debut (he co-directed the "Everything To Everyone" video with Mark Kohr). Shot in Los Angeles, the clip intersperses the experiences of several children and how they're affected by their parents' break-up with performance footage of the group.
Meanwhile, EVERCLEAR have returned to the studio to begin work on a new CD. In an unorthodox approach, the group will release two full-length CDs in 2000. The textured LEARNING HOW TO SMILE CD will be followed by the more guitar-driven SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. TWO: GOOD TIME FOR A BAD ATTITUDE, which will hit stores later this year.
After an early visit to the recording studio to hear LEARNING HOW TO SMILE, Rolling Stone writer Steve Hochman wrote about the track "Thrift Store Chair": "It's clear that this is something different, from the opening folk-style acoustic guitar to the lyrics chronicling a relationship in mid-crumble to the last fade of an accordion." Elsewhere in the piece (in the issue dated 6/8), Hochman noted: "Throughout, the album retains Alexakis' original vision; the playful 'Here We Go Again" is complemented by horns, and 'Annabella,' a baldly sentimental ode to Alexakis' daughter, includes an orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank Sinatra associate Mort Lindsey."
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