A celebrated singer/songwriter whose soothing voice has entranced millions of listeners, or a zany goddess whose Hollywood Hills realm is a riot of ersatz zebra skin, lava lamps, troll dolls and tiki treasures? With her newest release, both sides of Lauren Wood’s Gemini soul are given their fair due. An advisory warning on the CD says it best. “The artwork on this package does not in any way reflect the music that’s inside. Also&.there’s one swear word.” The eye-popping cover and the lone foul utterance notwithstanding, compassionate songcraft is clearly the winner.

“I have a million interests,” Wood says, “from rescuing animals to collecting bad art. All things I need to get done are all the same to me. Should I water the rhododendrons?...or get a distribution deal? I’ll hesitate. What do I do first?” Fortunately, what she does first is write songs, and occasionally, release them. Having already recorded two previous albums with identical, eponymous titles, she named her newest release Love, Death & Customer Service to denote a life-altering catharsis. “Love” came from the collapse of a 13-year relationship and the subsequent founding of a new one. “Death” came from the loss of her father, friends, family members and a beloved pet. While the first two terms are self-explanatory, customer service may be her most vexing issue. “It’s a reflection of the universe  having to deal with endless automation before reaching a person who is indifferent  it makes me insane,” she laughs.

Wood opens her new CD with “Contradictions,” a confiding track that spotlights her signature vocals. Among the highlights is the invitingly quirky “Come and Live With Me,” wherein the songstress offers sunsets, color coordination and, one suspects, other delights, and an interpretation of the Zombies classic, “Time of the Season.” The CD concludes with an ambitious opus, “Walk Toward the Light,” a revelatory look at the cycle of time. “I tried to record the death experience and the transition: the sadness and the celebration that happens when you celebrate a person’s life. I hope there’s life after death; I love so many people who have gone.” Clocking in at over eight minutes, it’s an upbeat revelry, complete with gospel choir and a fadeout in quasi-military cadence.

The list of collaborators on Love, Death & Customer Service is testimony to Wood’s enduring personal and professional relationships; co-writers like Melissa Manchester, Jenny Yates, Randy Edelman, and Allee Willis (The Color Purple) plus musical cohorts including Little Feat’s Billy Payne, Stephen Bishop, Jeff Hull (“Piano in the Dark”), The Tonight Show band’s Vickie Randle and Wood’s cousin and longtime musical compatriot, viola virtuoso Novi Novog.

Wood enjoys a career of extraordinary diversity, having recorded with artists like Frank Zappa and Michael McDonald, to writing songs for everyone from Cher to Sammy Hagar to Gladys Knight; adding her voice to network themes for Just Shoot Me and commercials for Nike, Budweiser and Nintendo and penning songs for feature films like Police Academy and daytime drama Days of Our Lives. In between she’s appeared on television shows, voiced characters for animation and even founded a greeting card company, “Cat Tricks,” featuring pictures of her cats. (“My animals have more clothes than I do,” she says.) And then there is “Fallen,” a song written and performed on the 18-million selling soundtrack for the film Pretty Woman. “I’ve gotten hundreds of e-mails from people who tell me the song has gotten them through catastrophic accidents, illnesses; stories from around the world how that song has pulled them through. Or couples that have made it ‘their song’, it was the first dance at their wedding or they’ve named their kids after me because they were listening to that song when they were conceived.”

In Pittsburgh, where she grew up, her father owned the region’s largest pet emporium (“How Much is that Doggie in the Window?” was written about her father’s pet shop) and her mother encouraged her daughter’s zany individuality. “She never taught me anything I did was weird. ‘Oh, that’s so great Cookie-Face - I love that.’ I’d have bright red hair and she’d help me dye it.” Lauren’s legacy still reflects the outlandish girl who grew up at the juncture of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. “As a little kid I was different, fat and teased. There was still a duality even then. I would go from being a complete outcast to being the most popular kid. When I was younger I was so shy I couldn’t speak to express myself. That’s one of the reasons I became a songwriter. I don’t write as much now because it’s easier for me to communicate verbally, but still, where my music comes from is the deepest part of me.”

With Love, Death & Customer Service, all lines are open.
 

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, producer, audiophile and animal fancier Lauren Wood has been making beautiful music for over three decades. Best known for her global hit "Fallen" on 1990's blockbuster Pretty Woman soundtrack (Wood was the only unsigned act on the multi-platinum disc) and '79's Please Don't Leave," a Top 40 duet with Michael McDonald, she's acclaimed for distinctive, sultry vocals, literate songwriting and the superior sonics of her self-produced solo work. Citing her "moving delivery" and "spare but infectious arrangement," Billboard's Larry Flick has previously written, "Wood has an earthy, deep voice capable of soaking subtext into just about every syllable she utters." Lauren Wood now returns to the spotlight with the new album Love, Death & Customer Service (LDCS) on her own label Bad Art Records, set for an official release in early January, 2007. Early praise this time out includes fellow vocalist Patti Austin's comment that, "LDCS is the freshest CD I've heard in years ... and in the midst of a world where every singer sounds the same, Lauren has the freshest voice I've heard in years." Musician Dave Koz said, "Lauren Wood is simply a huge talent ... LDCS is filled with soul-satisfying songs with a unique blend of messages ... You'll get to the end and immediately want to have another go." It's Wood's first disc since 1999's Lauren Wood, and her jump from an eponymous release to the more evocatively titled LDCS honors major life changes including -- respectively -- the end of a long relationship and the start of a new one; the recent passing of Lauren's father, other family members, friends and a beloved pet; and existential vexation with post-modern life. "It's a reflection of the universe -- having to deal with endless automation before reaching a person who is indifferent," she laughs. "It makes me insane!"

It's a sentiment, of course, to which many can relate, as is the case with the insights and authentic emotions expressed via Wood's intelligent and moving songcraft on LDCS's 13 tracks. The lead single, "Contradictions," is an elegantly delivered, jazzy gem spotlighting her signature alto that explores the paradoxes inherent in human relationships -- "You push, you pull/It's no good, then it's wonderful ... " The scintillating song -- to be serviced to Smooth Jazz radio nationwide the week of January 2 -- also features the musicianship of Little Feat's Billy Payne on synth strings and Wood's cousin, viola virtuoso Novi Novog (her bandmate in Chunky, Novi & Ernie, with whom she released two Warner Bros. LPs), among other "friends of Lauren's." Other stand-out tracks include Wood's hep and sparkling reinvention of the Zombies' classic "Time Of The Season," one of only two non-Wood-penned songs -- the other is a lush and lovely cover of Joan Armatrading's "Can't Let Go." The wry and offbeat alt -pop number "Come And Live With Me" -- LDCS's most recently written tune -- is already getting advance airplay at College Radio. Also notable is the inspired album closer, "Walk Toward The Light," an over 8 -minute composition, complete with gospel choir, which Wood says is about, "the sadness and the celebration that happens when you celebrate a person's life."

LDCS was recorded and mixed -- the latter by Michael Verdick -- in the artist's own studio. The mastering process -- with Kris Solem at Futuredisc -- took over one year, something Lauren says was a marathon even for her exacting audiophile standards, which are industry-renowned. "To allow the album to stand up to other records made today," she explains, "I needed to get it louder without losing the wide stereo and dynamics. It needed to be both loud and soft. What I found, though, was that the compressors took out the separation and clarity -- and the air out of my voice. I wanted this to be a beautiful, delicate, orchestral record, so we ended up doing massive experimentation before we got it right." Wood, who'd planned to become a visual artist before a crush on Paul McCartney led her to a life in music, was equally meticulous about artdirecting the album's graphics and booklet, which features a cover painting of Lauren and her dog Norman by Bubbles the Artist (in collaboration with GRAMMY(R) winner Allee Willis).

Lauren Wood's previous trio of solo albums and two with Chunky, Novi & Ernie, her extraordinary success with "Fallen" -- which she calls "the little song that could" -- and other career highlights including recordings with artists as diverse as Frank Zappa, Cher, Sammy Hagar, Lani Hall, Nicolette Larson and Gladys Knight and singing the theme song for the long-running sit-com Just Shoot Me are a testament to her depth and range. On LDCS, she hits another creative high note with, in the words of popular WQNR-FM/The Rock Program Director and morning show host "Wildman" Steve Bronson, "an album with incredible energy and substance. From the smooth jazz-funk feel of Steely Dan to quirky pop tunes that bring to mind David Byrne or Ani DiFranco, to love songs with the depth and emotion of Kate Bush, she brings it all off with heartfelt sincerity coupled with a delightful sense of humor."

Love, Death & Customer Service will be available for purchase at major online retailers, select records stores and via iTunes. For more options, press www.laurenwood.com Lauren Wood Web site: http://www.laurenwood.com/ © 2007 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer: Information contained on this page is provided by companies featured through PR Newswire. PR Newswire, WorldNow and this Station cannot confirm the accuracy of this information and make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. All content © Copyright 2001 - 2007 WorldNow and KRON. All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.