Dan Wilson opens a new chapter with 'Closing Time' mates Semisonic
His solo set for our Mini-Grandstand series precedes the band's first new record in nearly two decades.
Closing time never actually came in Semisonic's case.
For close to 20 years now, Dan Wilson has refused to call an end to the power-pop trio with whom he landed a No. 1 rock hit by singing about last call in 1998.
That song, "Closing Time," has lived on ever since, via an episode of "The Office" for one, and as a subject for the popular "Song Exploder" podcast. Semisonic itself has only survived via minimal yet meaningful sporadic gigging over the past two decades, but that's impressive given everything else on Wilson's plate in that time.
The St. Louis Park-reared, multi-Grammy-winning singer/songwriter kept his old band going after dropping his solo album "Free Life" in 2007, moving to Los Angeles in 2011 and writing hit songs with the likes of Adele, Taylor Swift and the Dixie Chicks along the way (he helped pen the latter's new fight song "March March").
Finally, 19 years since their last album, Wilson and bandmates John Munson and Jacob Slichter have new music to show for their stick-to-itiveness. Semisonic's blazingly catchy five-song EP, "You're Not Alone," arrives Sept. 19 after years of build-up that kicked into high gear when they previewed songs from it at last summer's Basilica Block Party. The comforting title track had been in the works for several years but sounded right in tune with the times when it was issued in June.
"You're Not Alone" is available with pre-order bundles via semisonic.com. Wilson's solo singles and other news regularly post via danwilsonmusic.com.
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