Joshua Radin 'Simple Times' album

The things that have always been important in life are still important, and those are the subjects Joshua Radin addresses on his second album, Simple Times . These songs, he says, are about "falling in and out of love. Making friendships, having friendships fall apart. Experiencing different parts of the world, seeing other cultures and getting a better perspective on how we live in our country. Everything that people generally go through."

The means he employs to deliver those ideas to the world is also pretty simple: He picks up a guitar and sings his heart out.

"It's a personal account of my life through music," says Cleveland-born Radin. "They're all true and honest songs. When I meet people after shows, sometimes they think they know me because of a certain song--and in a sense they do , because I write about what's going on in my life. It is scary making yourself vulnerable like that to a bunch of people you don't know, but it's also very therapeutic."

That said, Radin grew up in a household largely absent of the kind of family turmoil that drives many musicians to spill their guts in song. "I guess that's why my songs are about what I'm going through right now, because I don't have anything from the past to complain about," he says with a chuckle. "If I have any angst from my childhood, it was about the environment outside the house. I never felt like I fit in."

A friend gave a demo featuring his very first composition, "Winter," to a TV producer--who promptly used it to score a scene of the sitcom Scrubs in early 2004. Other Hollywood types found his music just as evocative, and soon various Radin songs were being heard in other TV shows ( Grey's Anatomy , Brothers and Sisters, American Idol , One Tree Hill, So You Think You Can Dance, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Eli Stone ), as well as movies ( The Nanny Diaries , The Last Kiss, Catch and Release ) and ads.

Simple Times is drawn from a much deeper well. "These last two years I spent writing and writing and writing," he says. "I did feel this pressure on myself to top the first record."

To help him do that, Radin enlisted highly regarded producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck). "I still wanted to keep an intimate sound, but I also knew I had to grow as an artist," Radin says. "So I opened myself up to Rob's production, and he had a lot of great ideas. We both had a really clear vision of what we wanted."

Simple Times is drawn from a much deeper well. "These last two years I spent writing and writing and writing," he says. "I did feel this pressure on myself to top the first record."

To help him do that, Radin enlisted highly regarded producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck). "I still wanted to keep an intimate sound, but I also knew I had to grow as an artist," Radin says. "So I opened myself up to Rob's production, and he had a lot of great ideas. We both had a really clear vision of what we wanted."

The completed Simple Times offers the next step in the evolution of an artist whose talent is flourishing, whose skills have grown and whose vision is broader than ever before. It's also proof that a young man who was confronted with success very early in his musical life--as he puts it, "before I really found my stage legs"--has grown into his role with aplomb.

"I feel like right about now I'm starting to hit my stride, which is cool," he says. "With this record I feel like I can come out and say, 'OK, I'm a fully formed artist now.' I just hope that other people like it as much as I like it."

Joshua Radin biography
Joshua Radin's Simple Times, due out on September 30th, will be the premiere release from mom & pop, Q Prime's new independent label. The album is the follow-up to Radin's acclaimed full-length debut, 2006's We Were Here, which praised as "understated, poignant and refreshingly frank" in a four-star review. Rolling StoneSimples Times will be available on iTunes on September 9th.

Ohio-native Radin worked with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) on Simple Times to create a sound that stays true to the integrity of his past work, but adds percussion and other instrumental elements to give the new music an edgier kick. The twist on Radin's trademark "whisper rock" is particularly apparent on the uncharacteristically up-tempo "I'd Rather Be With You," the album's first single.

Patty Griffin adds her pure vocal accompaniment to "You've Got Growing Up To Do," a track Radin notes as one of his most personal on the CD. Rising star Meiko joins him on the uplifting and charming "Sky."

"People ask me all the time about my 'whisper-rock' type of sound; all I can say to them is that the quieter my vocals are, the more an audience is apt to listen to the lyrics. And when I decide to get loud, I do it because the lyric calls for it, and if I do it sparingly, it means more each time," Radin said.

"This record represents the last two years of my life. It's about falling in and out of love, the world in which I live, my friends, my family, but most of all, it's a loss of innocence record; in writing these songs, I am trying to get back to where I started while also growing as an artist simultaneously - not a very easy task, but one that I will continue to struggle with for the rest of my creative life. It helps when people like Patty Griffin, Rob Schnapf, Lenny Castro and Greg Leisz jump on board. I still can't believe I was fortunate enough to work with them. This record is exactly the way I intended it to be, and I hope people dig it."

One famous fan is already putting her stamp of approval on the soulful singer/songwriter's latest project. Ellen DeGeneres asked Radin to give an intimate performance at her nuptials to Portia de Rossi this past Saturday. He sang acoustic renditions of several new tracks, including the romantic "They Bring Me To You".

"I've never played a wedding before," said Radin, "and I probably won't again until it's my own as I cannot imagine topping that experience."

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Joshua Radin - Simple Times