Search - Charlemagne :: Detour Allure

Carl Johns is Charlemagne. But he?s been known as Carl Johns before ? like when he was born in Southern Indiana in the mid-?70s, and when he started playing the drums (his first instrument). He was also Carl Johns when he left the Hoosier State and relocated to Madison, Wisconsin eight years ago, learned to play guitar and ended up in the group Noahjohn (a sort of a psychedelic Americana project, depending on which album you?re listening to), of which released four albums from 1999 to 2004, and toured all over the U.S. and U.K. Detour Allure was co-produced by Charlemagne and The Arty Bastard (real name: Curtis Whaley, keyboard player and graphic designer for the disc), and it was the first time the two paired up as a production team. "Curtis and I worked really well together," says Johns. "I really enjoyed working with Curtis. He?s a Southern gentleman with Euro flavor, which I think comes through on the record. He?s equally at home at cookouts and art openings! , a subtle iconoclast." Detour Allure launches with a triumvirate of material ? specifically "Greyhound," "Pink and Silver" and "Nematode" ? that, according to Johns, sets the parameters for the rest of the album and dictates "the palette that we?re working with." "Greyhound" is self-tagged as a "lazy pop song," on the slower end of a mid-tempo pace. (The song?s chorus is where the album title was lifted.) The upbeat "Pink and Silver" sports an ?80s feel, with plenty of hooks and fuzzy tones. Johns? psychedelic influences make an appearance in the middle section of "Nematode," which fires off with rough drum beats, acoustic guitars and a female voice, then breaks into a pop song with male/female vocal interplay. And when it?s all said and done, the core of Charlemagne?s Detour Allure is Johns? songwriting common denominator: the exploration of mystery and becoming comfortable with the unknown. The juxtaposition of such elements in Detour Allure includes offering pop melodies of intimate scenarios (conception, knitting, travel, gossip, card games, etc.) ? the familiar and "known" ? amidst psychedelia and a wash of sound ? the undefined and "unknown."