INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Singer Leon Bridges performs onstage during … [+] Day 2 of Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 27, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Stagecoach)
It’s hard to find any record released in 2024 that has a better vibe than Leon Bridges’ stunning Leon. Warm, organic, inviting, intimate, it is a record that just embraces you. It is like sitting in an outdoor hammock on a perfect 1977 day, blissful.
From the gorgeous opener, “When A Man Cries,” through the breezy “Laredo” and “Panther City,” Leon is a masterpiece of mood, like the man himself. Wearing his sunglasses throughout the entire Zoom, answering most questions with “Man,” Bridges embodies the ‘70s era he says influenced the gorgeous mellow sound of the album.
He spoke with Sage Bava and I about the vulnerability of naming the album Leon, being a conduit in his songwriting, the process of making this album, writing with John Mayer and much more.
Steve Baltin: I was talking to Brandi Carlile when she produced Brandy Clark’s album, which is incredible. And Brandi said as a producer, it was the biggest compliment to her to have Brandy Clark self-title the album, because that meant that she felt the album was the closest to her and so reflective. Obviously this album is titled Leon. Do you feel the same?
Leon Bridges: I’m always in a state of re-imagination. Always trying to reinvent myself with each album. And this album was just about kind of just embracing my singularity as an artist. I wanted to give people just like more of a window into who I am, which is what inspired Leon.
Sage Bava: It’s such a pleasure to speak with you, Leon. I’m such a fan, and this is absolutely stunning. I love how it feels like a different side of you that we haven’t heard before. Now that you’re in the middle of turning this music live for your tour, I’m curious what that experience has been like.
Bridges: Yeah, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really top-tier musicians. I think the music is always going to have a different interpretation live, but the whole goal is to try to keep the live versions of these songs as close to the record as we can. And so, I love that a majority of the set list will be songs from the Leon album but also sprinkling in some of the older stuff as well.
Bava: Can you talk about the creative process and how it differed from previous albums and what it was like to choose these songs and put them together?
Bridges: Yeah. I started working on this album five years ago. At the time I was simultaneously working on my album Gold-Diggers Sound and just night and day as far as like the aesthetic. Gold-Diggers was more bravado, just like me making a statement of I wanted to flex my R&B muscle on that one. The songs just didn’t fit in the context, so I kind of put everything on the back burner and tried to ignore these songs, but they just kind of kept coming back to haunt me and I just had to listen to my intuition and revisit everything. But it was the most liberating experience because I guess normally like in the process it’s all about chasing that hit and man, just having the freedom just to create, and not really try to chase a certain aesthetic and sound, I guess and that was different [chuckle].
Baltin: As you get older, you get more comfortable going for that intimacy. Do you feel like you’re at that space now?
Bridges: Totally. Every time, I’ve tried to shape the music in a way that in my mind I’m like, “Okay, yeah, this is going to be really successful and kind of a pop thing.” I’ve always felt like those songs just fell on deaf ears with my audience. So, I think that’s what inspired Leon. It was just the thought of, “I need the type of music where I can just pick up a guitar, go into a room and play them.” Wanting to really chase that simplicity again and just get back to the reason of why my fans fell in love with me in the first place. Having that storytelling vibe in the songs. It’s like, with the production, I was really adamant about that, just being really organic with some of those country and folk elements.
Baltin: There’s something about that simplicity in writing that’s so beautiful. Were there albums that inspired you in their simplicity?
Bridges: I’m a big Van Morrison fan and Astral Weeks, that’s a rad one. I love that he gave people a glimpse into his hometown. Sonically, it’s so warm and inviting and I always love his cadence and phrasing on a lot of that stuff. I think a lot of that stuff kind of lives in the subconscious, and it just kind of pours out when I write. But he is one cat that I reference. I think the cool thing is this album is a reflection of my pantheon of those great records from the ’70s.
Bava: I love the focus of real instruments. I so appreciate how that is coming back. People are really craving that connection to wood and nature. To me it’s very ritualistic the creative process, especially with real instruments. I was curious what rituals, if any, you adapted for this creation?
Bridges: I think what was really awesome is going out to Mexico City to really bring this album home. It was just amazing to be disconnected from all distractions. I guess my schedule is always so sporadic. It was nice to have a little bit of a routine of getting up and going for a little run and just hitting the studio and working on the songs. And it’s awesome to bring like, real instrumentation and that musicality in the music. I feel like, you don’t really see a lot of black musicians, like front men with a guitar. Hopefully through my own thing, I’d be able to inspire somebody, the youth to pick up an instrument and get after it.
Baltin: For you, were there songs on this album that really set the tone for the fact that this was going to be uplifting?
Bridges: Yeah. Man, it’s crazy cause I’ve never really felt this connected to my music. Every song on this album just brings me to tears. But there was one song called “Simplify” that became the North Star as to how we shape this album and what the meaning of the album is. It’s dealing with fame and all that other stuff. I think all artists desire just getting back to a simpler life and that’s what that song is about. That’s what I wanted to chase on this album, just like that simplicity with the production and the songs.
Bava: So, interested to ask, it’s kind of an impossible question, but how would you synthesize what it feels like to be a conduit in the moment?
Bridges: Oh my God. I’m no expert there [laughter]. Man, I don’t know, it’s very humbling that at times I’m so disconnected from the weight of my music and my impact but I think it’s humbling that God still uses me, being so frail and a finite person, and uses my music to be healing to other people.
Bava: Such a beautiful answer, thank you for that. That’s very clear. You can hear it in your music. I so appreciate the amount of soul and depth that you bring that is necessary.
Bridges: Thank you.
Baltin: I know you’ve done this album a few times live in intimate settings. When you do something live an audience makes it their own. Have you been surprised, and in a good way, by the way that the audience responded to certain songs?
Bridges: Totally. This is a body of work, and honestly I was really surprised that people gravitated towards “Laredo” and even playing snippets of this one called “Panther City” and seeing people just respond to that has been such a blessing. But yeah, this is one of those albums you’ve just got to press play. But I can’t wait to see which songs on the album are going to be people’s favorites.
Baltin: You mentioned Van Morrison. Who would be the artist that you would most love to just sit with and play a show with, pick their brain and just have fun?
Bridges: It’d be cool to have a convo, or make music with James Blake. I feel like he’s a pioneer in his own right, and that guy really embodies the R&B but it’s totally his own thing.
Bava: I’d like to ask about the first song (“When a Man Cries”), it’s just so beautiful, I need to know more. Can you give us a little golden nugget about either the writing of, or what it means to you?
Bridges: When we were trying to figure out the sequencing, there was talks of like, “Oh ‘Simplify’ should go first.” But I was like, “No, ‘When A Man Cries,’ I love that being the opener.” It’s the song that I initially started writing with John Mayer. It’s funny, cause I went on Instagram live, and I was doing a session with some friends and John Mayer was like, “Yo, send me the address, I’m gonna pull up.” I was like, “No way.” But he actually came through, and that’s how this song transpired. But yeah, “When A Man Cries,” it’s about mental health. I feel like in the black community, we don’t really have a space to express our emotions out of fear of being deemed as weak. I just love that statement of, “When A Man Cries,” the tears falling, and being a metaphor of just letting go, and showing there’s definitely bravery in the vulnerability. It’s just the modern blues.
