Shelean Newman Talks About Key Tracks On Anything Goes

“Anything Goes” (Cole Porter)

Cole Porter meets the rock of the Eighties: churning synthesizer lines and a soaring guitar break create a heady Eno-esque backdrop for Shelean’s voice.

“In the case of ‘Anything Goes,’ Chris Walters said to me: ‘Okay, think U2 and Joshua Tree.’ He started playing and I said, ‘Exactly—that’s it.’ As I live with and listen to the album, I’m finding the tunes that are becoming my favorites are the ones furthest removed from their traditional sound and interpretation.”

“Embraceable You” (George & Ira Gershwin)

If the Beatles had cut this song as a bonus track on Abbey Road, it might have sounded like this—note how Pat Bergeson’s slide guitar intertwines with the vocal.

“Something about Chris’ treatment of the song and the way the vocal landed when we recorded it just brings those lyrics to a contemporary place. Some people think it sounds exposed and desperate—well, I like that. Pat Bergeson’s guitar playing is phenomenal on this track, as it is throughout the album.”

“I Could Have Danced All Night” (Frederick Loewe & Alan Jay Lerner)

A Broadway favorite, bossa nova style: gentle piano figures, warmly tropical string arrangement, and a Parisian touch of chanson accordion.

“When we were planning this one out, I mentioned Diana Krall—the kind of feel she might bring to the song. After I’d done some scratch vocals in English, we attempted a French-language version to heighten that chanson flavor. But the English version got a better reaction among our friends, so we kept that one.”

“Something Good” (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II)

You’ve never heard “The Sound of Music” like this before, not with Bergeson’s sinuous, stinging leads, Walters’ way-too-fonky New Orleans piano, and those chugging horn riffs. Calling all Bonnie Raitt fans...

“The Sound of Music was the show of all shows for me when I was growing up—a pivotal point in the story of my becoming a performer. But this song and one other (“I Have Confidence”) were not in the original Broadway show—they were added for the movie version. To have the chance to record ‘Something Good’ with this kind of Bonnie Raitt/Rickie Lee Jones blues-rock arrangement was a blast. Chris Walters just nailed this one.”

“Dream” (Johnny Mercer)

Simple, spare, and beautiful...’nuff said.

“Johnny Mercer is one of my all-time favorite songwriters and can pretty much do no wrong. I’d been impressed by the recordings of some newer singer-songwriters who pulled off a very sparse, one-instrument-and-one-voice kind of performance. So when we worked on ‘Dream,’ I said I heard a ukelele in it—and it actually worked! This track turned out to be a lot of fun.”

“Love For Sale” (Cole Porter)

Slow and bluesy, deep and moody, with languid slide guitar riffs set against a translucent veil of strings...and one of Shelean’s finest vocal performances on Anything Goes.

“When we were tracking this, Chris said to me: ‘The actress in you is able to take a song like this to a different place than a singer-songwriter would be able to.’ Really, it’s a matter of interpretation. You can swing it, you can tongue-in-cheek it, but I tried to bring out both the sensuality and the slightly dark side of the lyrics.”