Say You Will due in April, world tour in May
Fleetwood Mac will release their new album, Say You Will, on April 15th. The album is their first full collection of new material with Lindsey Buckingham onboard since 1987’s Tango in the Night. However, Say You Will, the group’s first release since the half-new/half-unplugged The Dance five years ago, doesn’t feature keyboardist/singer Christine McVie, who had been with the band since 1970.
Some of Buckingham’s contributions to Say You Will are as many as nine years old, as he initially considered using some for a solo release. “[Christine’s departure] kind of freed the Fleetwood Mac situation to be looked at in a fresh light and in some ways in the dynamic that Stevie and I had going before we joined the band,” Buckingham told Rolling Stone. “But this music is the best that I’ve ever done on my own, or with Fleetwood Mac, tapping into some new areas. And after all of this time, Stevie and I have managed to get to a point where we’re comfortable. There’s nothing we can’t talk about. I talked to Don Henley one time about the Eagles, and it seemed like there was so little love or idealism left in that group of people and perhaps that’s more the norm for people our age. But we seem to be slightly more arrested, and I think there’s some potential for some good stuff because of that.”
Drummer Mick Fleetwood says that Buckingham’s input on the record reminds him of the band’s segue from 1977’s Rumours to the more sprawling 1979 release, Tusk. “His whole life is so involved in doing what he does,” Fleetwood said. “Quite frankly, I’m not sure how he stays focused all those years on pieces of music, but he does. It has a lot of the sensibilities [of Tusk] and Lindsey’s definitely pushed some envelopes that are exciting. I don’t think people will accuse us of standing still.”
Nicks’ contributions came from a similar flood of material. The singer gave Buckingham, Fleetwood and bassist John McVie eighteen songs to work with, before she went out to tour behind her 2001 release, Trouble in Shangri-La. “So it was the power trio,” Fleetwood said. “And that was great, because we did a lot of reconnecting.” Nicks’ friendship with Sheryl Crow also resulted in a guest appearance by Crow, who added harmony vocals and keyboards to Say You Will.
Fleetwood Mac are planning a world tour, to launch in May.
Rolling Stone / Friday, February 7, 2003
