Chambers Music

Emerging from writing hits for others, GORDON CHAMBERS releases a new solo album

As Gordon Chambers emerges from writing hits for others with the release of his second solo recording, Love Stories, the noted modern R&B songwriter has made a stunning CD based on a nearly forgotten notion: that soul music should inspire and encourage good relationships.

"When I started putting this album together, I asked 'where are the pop songs in the pop music world landscape that are encouraging of relationships?. Is that passé now? And can that be done in a way that's cool?' I think our generation, especially, needs some inspiration."

Chambers answered his questions with Love Stories, a soulful recording of 13 relationship songs. It's not an album about being swept away by love, but instead a recording for people in various stages of relationships. It's modern, mature soul with a musical backdrop that sounds great.

"The concept is love stories," he says. "People have been calling the album love songs because they get it confused. It's really not love songs. They are songs about love. But I called it Love Stories because every song is a story. And they are just different chapters about different kinds of relationships, and people trying to work through different challenges in relationships."

Chambers said he looked at his life, his friends, and drew on his catalogue while writing new songs. "One song is about a long-distance relationship and the agony of that," he says. "There's a song about somebody who is having a great life, who is in love with life but wishes they were in love themselves. They are not in a romantic relationship. There is another song that is about the love of God and talking about how even while struggling with romance, and trying to get that thing right, taking inventory spiritually and thanking God for still being a blessing in one's life.

"There's a song that I wrote called 'If It Wasn't for Your Love,' which was kind of a love letter that I wrote to my parents for always having supported me for everything that I accomplished in my life. There are just different kinds of stories about love. The whole album is the cycle of love in a way."

Chambers compares his writing process to being a journalist whose beat is the ups and downs of love and emotions. "I am a psychological person," he says. "I am constantly observing the world and seeing what makes people tick, especially what people's emotional content is. In order to write songs – songs are a great source of healing for people and it's a great way to reach people – so I am always trying to talk to people, to find out what they are going through and what kind of songs they might need. I see myself as a physician. When you go to the doctor, you have to know the symptoms before you know the cure."

Chambers says some of the songs on the CD reflect his own desires – he's single. The opening track, "The Next Time," is an anthem for people who are in between partners. And "Unfair," is a song about long-distance love – which has become an issue as his career continues to take off.

"I wrote that song when I was in Sweden in the middle of the winter," he says. "It was really cold and rainy. I was homesick. I started thinking about my own life. I said, 'Suppose this really does become my life where my career explodes and I am touring all the time?' I am single. But suppose I was in a relationship, what kind of toll would that take? And then I started thinking about all the other people who were in long-distance relationships and the toll that it is taking on their lives. You have soldiers away at war. We have people moving to try to make ends meet. There's a whole lot of agony going on. So I said let me just write about this. I thought this was a unique topic as a song. I had never heard a song about it."

But writing about the phases of relationships was only part of Chambers' mission. He also wanted an album that sounded hip with today's grooves while acknowledging some of the classic soul that has always inspired him, such as Stevie Wonder's work. Guests who helped him craft that sound include singers Ledisi and Melonie Daniels.

Chambers even wrote about these musical concerns in a song. "The first line of 'Violins' is, 'What happened to the love songs we used to hear on the radio?'" he says. "That's the other thing that this album is about for me, which is honoring a tradition of love songs. Because when you listen to a lot of pop right now, you have beautiful changes and great beats, but they're still angry songs. 'Get out of my life. Get out.'"

Chambers was also looking for a hipper musical backdrop than classic love songs. "I think when people think love songs, they think of Barbara Streisand or Celine Dion, who are amazing artists, but are more middle of the road artists," he says. "I wanted to make a hip sounding recording, something that sounded young, had some cutting edge production but also had some classic sounds."

As Chambers says in a short dedication track, the CD was inspired by the sounds and spirit he heard while growing up – when soul music made you "want to fall in love with each other or with life." By reaching back, Chambers has produced a CD that's relevant today and should endure. As he said, "Where ever you are in your relationship life, there's a song for you on the album."

— Steven Rosenfeld


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