Brandi Carlile

Paradigm Talent Agency

Brandi Carlile decided this was the time for her to get “candid” — and, also, to get “extreme.”

Those are the words she uses to describe the emotional immediacy and sonic range of her new album, “Give Up the Ghost.” It’s her third disc, following two folk-rock/roots-pop albums that sold a combined half-million copies in the U.S.

But, due to the emotional depths she wanted to plumb, and her insistence on adhering to the vision she had in her head of how the music should sound, the album took more than a year to make.

“We definitely had some disagreements — all sorts of production disagreements and battles over creative integrity — both with the producer, and between members of the band,” says Carlile, who comes to the Michigan Theater on Monday. She is also slated to play a short free concert at the downtown Borders store at 12:30 p.m. Monday.

Carlile's desire to be candid and more heartfelt was initially borne out of a desire to “not have this album just be about the boredom of the road and hotel rooms and riding the bus, which is what a lot of second and third albums by newer artists are about — and most people can’t really relate to that stuff,” says Carlile during a phone interview from a road stop in St. Louis.

So, she and two members of her band — twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth (guitar and bass, respectively) decided to dig deeper. “We looked into our past and wrote about our life problems, and looked to the future and wrote from our journals, and also sort of dipped into our subconscious when writing some of these songs,” she says. “We definitely did some soul-searching.” Carlile wrote four of the songs, Tim Hanseroth wrote two and the other five tunes were collaborations between Carlile and the Hanseroths.

Certainly, the most painful personal memory Carlile dredged up when writing the current batch of songs was the suicide of a friend when they were both teenagers. She explores that loss and that time in her life in the understandably pensive song “That Year.” She says the impetus for the song was a dream she had about her deceased friend. “Something like that never really leaves you,” she muses.

Brandi Carlile performing "That Year" live in Oregon in 2008:

Regarding her wanting to “get extreme” — “Give up The Ghost” indeed boasts a broad, dynamic sonic range. Several tunes are stripped-down and raw, while others use big, dense arrangements, with multi-tracked harmony vocals, layered electric guitars, string arrangements — and, in one instance, a 30-piece orchestra.

“Those stripped-down songs, we did ‘em that way to get the listener to feel a little uncomfortable, to get at those emotions. And the songs that are really produced, with a big sound, well, we decided to make those really big,” says Carlile. “ I just wanted to cover the full spectrum.”

Also adding texture and warmth is another of Carlile’s bandmates, cellist Josh Neumann. And throughout, Carlile employs her strong, robust voice to put across the emotions probed in the songs.

The disc features some notable guest stars as well — the Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray, the Heartbreakers’ keyboard player Benmont Tench, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith — and even Elton John.

“I grew up listening to almost exclusively country music, and I was pretty immersed in that whole Grand Ole Opry culture, where the singers usually didn’t write the songs they were singing,” remembers Carlile. “But when I was about 11 years old, I discovered Elton’s ‘Tumbleweed Connection’ — it was the first rock album I ever heard — and it had a huge impact on me.”

So, Carlile invited John to duet with her on the buoyant “Caroline,” a tune inspired by her niece. And as an extra added bonus for Carlile, Paul Buckmaster — the mad genius who did the string arrangements on those seminal early-‘70s Elton albums — wrote an arrangement for “Pride and Joy,” another track on “Give Up The Ghost.”

“That was a great day, when we got to watch him conduct the string section,” says Carlile.

As for Chad Smith’s involvement, one might wonder what a hard-rock drummer of his ilk — one who wields the drumsticks like police truncheons in the Chili Peppers — is doing on a folk-rock record. But Carlile pulled a fast one on him. “We had a couple of songs that needed really subtle brush-drumming on, and we had him do those instead,” she says with a laugh. On the more muted tracks “I Will” and “Touching the Ground,” Smith does indeed provide a delicate touch that most punk-funk fans probably didn’t know he had in him.

Brandi Carlile performing "Touching the Ground" in Seattle this June:

Since much of Carlile’s music appeals to the Indigos’ audience — and in some cases draws comparisons to it — it was fitting that the Indigos' Ray sign on to the project: Ray adds her vocals to the open-hearted, soul-baring lead-off track, “Looking Out.”

“Yeah, the Indigos were a big influence on me musically when I was coming up. And today, Amy and I have a really strong personal bond — she’s a dear friend, and I just loved having her voice on my record.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

PREVIEW
Brandi Carlile
Who: Folk-rock/roots-pop artist who’s been built an increasingly larger audience since her 2005 debut.
What: Mix of folk, rock, country and pop. The songs on her new album range from spare, stripped-down treatments to big, intricate orchestral-pop arrangements.
Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St.
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $20, $35.
Details: 734-668-8397, 734-763-TKTS or Michigan Theater web site

Also: Carlile will play a short free set at Borders Books and Music, 612 E. Liberty St., at 12:30 p.m. Monday.