Fitz and The Tantrums won acclaim with its brand of infectious retro soul but when it came time to write new material frontman Michael Fitzpatrick was at a loss.
Tasting mainstream success for the first time yet exhausted by years of incessant touring, Fitzpatrick — who had also become a father — suffered four to five months of debilitating writer’s block.
“I was literally going to bed on the verge of tears with my wife trying to prop me up and console me,” the singer, known to all as Fitz, told AFP.
Noelle Scaggs and Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums in Texas in July. AFP
Then he had an epiphany — go pop. One day at 11am, the band wrote HandClap, a lusty track with pulsating electronica, and finished in 15 minutes. Fitz and The Tantrums quickly recorded it and left Fitz’s original vocal take.
“I was feeling this massive wave of relief after so many months of hitting a wall. Every time I tried to recut the vocals, they never had that kind of raw excitement,” he said.
HandClap, which has been streamed more than 11 million times on Spotify, became the kernel for the band’s third album, the self-titled Fitz and The Tantrums which came out in June.
Fitz — whose voice called to mind 1980s New Wave on the band’s 2013 hit Out of My League — on the latest album goes into hip-hop delivery with touches of reggae in the music.
But mostly it is smooth-around-the-edges pop — and Fitz makes no apologies for it.
“I love pop music and I don’t know why so many people choose to think of it as a dirty word,” Fitz said.
The band for the first time turned to outside producers including Sam Hollander, who co-wrote One Direction’s hit Rock Me, and Joel Little, the New Zealander best known for his work with Lorde.
Fitz hailed the quality of DJs, producers and songwriters who increasingly work in studios with artists.
“I think there has never been a more exciting time in music in recent history than today,” he said.
Always in love with pop
Not everyone shares Fitz’s joy about the pop world. Some reviews of the album have been scathing, calling the sound overproduced; Rolling Stone wrote that Fitz and The Tantrums “have lost their soul — literally.”
Fitz takes the criticism in stride, saying that the band — known for its energetic concerts — was heartened by fans’ reception.
Fitz said it was a mistake to pigeonhole the band as Motown revival or indie soul, some of the more common descriptions of its early work.
“For me, pop has always been a huge part of our vocabulary, and pop to me just means a real eye and focus on great melodies that are infectious,” he said.
Fitz, 46, himself worked for years in music in the low-key role of a sound engineer. His breakthrough came when, while distraught over a romantic break-up, he finagled a discarded church organ into his apartment for $50.
In one of his life’s other “lightning in a bottle” moments, as he calls them, he immediately wrote on his organ Breakin’ the Chains of Love, a soulful track with a psychedelic edge.
The song opened the 2010 debut album by Fitz and The Tantrums, Pickin’ Up the Pieces.
Lessons from mixed background
Fitz traces his artistic sensibilities to his upbringing. While raised in Los Angeles, he was born in France to a French mother and went back every summer as a child to live with his grandparents.
“From a very early age, I never felt completely American. And Lord knows when I went to France they reminded me that my accent was not good enough and busted my chops about it day in and day out,” he said.
“So it was this weird thing where I felt partially French and partially American and not fully accepted by either one,” he said.
Fitz recorded a French-language version of Out of My League. But the bigger influence on Fitz was not so much French music itself but a desire to merge cultures.
“The biggest dream I’ve ever had as Fitz and The Tantrums is to make something that is truly cross-genre, that mixes so many influences,” he said.
“I think as a musician that is one of the harder things to achieve — in a way that feels authentic and organic and truthful.”
