Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson's latest album, Lovers One. Haters Zero, takes a mouthful of lessons and romantic equations and blows away his big sore heart. The 10-song collection tells the story of his past few years, couched in gorgeous soul music in the vein of Al Green and Sade, complete with horns and organ. From the title track ?Lovers One-Haters Zero,? to the reggae tinged ?Jimmy Cliff?, to the upbeat first single, ?Gonna Make It,? he rises from hardship to a new awareness. In ?Leaving Home? he gains the acceptance of a failed relationship, but it does have a happy ending.

?The whole record is about transitioning from a hurting, blaming, angry place through to acceptance, compassion, love, and the final song, ?Space,' is a bit existential for me,? Robert says. ?And that's what was going on at the time in my life. I got mired up in this twisted relationship that put me out of commission for a while and knocked me down a few rungs, but going through that I learned a lot. And as I was finishing writing my record, I met my future wife. So, for me, there's something of that charting in the record.?

Produced and mixed by Robert and John Raham (who also plays drums), Lovers One- Haters Zero is a reaction to his previous album, the acoustic solo work Be My Habit (co-produced by Raham), and is a collaborative effort featuring guitarist Paul Rigby (Neko Case), keyboardist Jacob Aginsky (PJ Harvey, Spearhead, Lhasa), bassist Kevin White (Shelby Lynn, Etta James, Billy Preston), among others. ?I'm pretty excited about the guys that played on the record,? says Robert. ?A lot of the magic happened in opening it up to collaboration and finding some amazing players.?

Recorded at John's Ogre Studios, in Vancouver B.C., they recorded the bed tracks in one 5 day session and one three day, mixing the record to 16-track analog tape. All the drums, bass, keyboards and electric guitar were cut in a single take, the way the classic ?70s records were done. ?These guys didn't need a lot of guidance,? he says. ?Coming from a solo singer-songwriter perspective, I really had to let it go.

?I brought the songs into the studio and I charted them all out for all the guys and I clearly remember one of the first sessions, they were like, ?Hey Rob, how about you don't play guitar on this one [?Taxi Cab']; just sing the part.' And I can clearly remember having an ego moment where I'm like, ?Oh my god, this is getting away from me,' and having to check myself and trust the process and trust these guys. That was a big turning point for me.?

Although Robert's first two albums, 1998's Thin Man, and 2004's Be My Habit, are different genre-wise than the new Lovers One. Haters Zero, he says, ?I hear a lot of soul music in my old stuff. I am still doing looping for the solo show. For the band show, I'm hardly playing guitar at all. The line-up is scalable. I've played as a six-piece, which is pretty raucous, but can also play solo, as a duo, trio, and can adjust.?