Bruce Hornsby’s<\/a> new, reflective album starts off sweetly and melodically, a musician looking back at a fascinating life. Then it gets weird. That’s by design.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going along very nicely and then I might just throw something at you,\u201d the three-time Grammy Award-winner warns from his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. \u201cI\u2019m well aware that a whole lot of my old-time fans just hate that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndigo Park,\u201d a 10-song set that arrives Friday, is a concept album of sorts as Hornsby mulls over his childhood and where he’s come from. To borrow a line from one song, it’s \u201cone life in reflection.\u201d<\/p>\n The album \u2014 which features appearances from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Bonnie Raitt and Bob Weir, his late Grateful Dead bandmate<\/a> \u2014 is a darkly comic collection that handles memories with soulfulness \u2014 and some quirks.<\/p>\n Hornsby, who came out of the gates swinging with the socially conscious hit \u201cThe Way It Is\u201d in 1986, knows which songs may trip up the average listener these days \u2014 Nos. 3, 6 and 9, which would be \u201cEntropy Here (Rust in Peace),\u201d \u201cAlabama\u201d and \u201cMight As Well Be Me, Florinda.\u201d They’re, in a word, challenging, with dissonant and complex time signatures.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I love simple music. There\u2019s simple songs on this,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I also love complexity. And I\u2019m interested sometimes in making a sound I haven\u2019t heard before.\u201d<\/p>\n Amy Harris\/Amy Harris\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cIndigo Park\u201d captures Hornsby\u2019s restless musical creativity and love of language. Not many pop albums these days causally drop the words \u201cpriapic\u201d or \u201ctumescent\u201d or make reference to math\u2019s Fibonacci sequence.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just a window into my goofy world,\u201d he says, explaining that the Hornsby household loves funny words and a bit of wordplay, with maybe dad telling one of his sons he\u2019s looking \u201ca bit concupiscent, pal.\u201d<\/p>\n Hornsby calls himself an \u201cinveterate reader\u201d and many of his songs have been inspired by literary fiction, like 2019\u2019s \u201cWhite Noise\u201d which was a nod to David Foster Wallace\u2019s novel \u201cThe Pale King.\u201d \u201cI guess you could really just call me, simply in one word, a snob.\u201d<\/p>\n On one new song, \u201cSilhouette Shadows,\u201d Hornsby references learning about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy over the school intercom. He was a third grader in a small, conservative Southern town, and suddenly, his classmates started celebrating, hoping Richard Nixon might take over.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really alarmed and confused\/Watching the children parroting parent\u2019s views,\u201d Hornsby sings. \u201cAncient scenes and cryptic dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n The song\u2019s music was inspired by a fugue by classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich<\/a> that he had written for a Spike Lee<\/a> project, but the filmmaker never used it. So Hornsby took it back: \u201cThat was me trying to make a sound I hadn\u2019t heard before.\u201d<\/p>\n AP<\/p>\n<\/div> Another song \u2014 \u201cEcstatic,\u201d which features Bonnie Raitt on vocals \u2014 sounds like light-hearted playground banter, and it sort of is. It comes from the basketball chants Hornsby heard from parents as his older son, Keith, competed on the basketball court for Louisiana State University.<\/p>\n \u201cYou fouled, you did it, raise your hand admit it\/That\u2019s right, you fouled, you did it, raise your hand admit it,\u201d go the lyrics. \u201cThat\u2019s right, you walked, you traveled and got caught.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndigo Park\u201d marks the fifth-straight album Hornsby has tapped guitarist Gibb Droll and the musician says it gives listeners a peek into the inner life of the singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more personal. I think his fans will feel like they\u2019re getting a glimpse of the man and what he thinks about,\u201d says Droll, who plays on five tracks.<\/p>\n As for the weirder songs, the guitarist says that’s part of the Hornsby experience. \u201cI don\u2019t know of anyone that has continued to push the boundaries the way he does,\u201d Droll says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s truly art, it should challenge you at some point. The listener should be challenged to feel \u2018Do I like this? I don\u2019t know. Oh my God, I think I love it.\u2019 And then by the eighth time, hopefully, you\u2019re looking forward to those little weird nooks and crannies.\u201d Droll says.<\/p>\n Hornsby, who plays accordion, dulcimer and piano on the collection, picked an Edward Hopper print \u2014 \u201cNight Shadows,\u201d a copy of which he owns \u2014 as the album cover. It depicts a man alone on a dark street.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought, well, this could be called my aging record. When you\u2019re about gone or ready to be gone you realize you\u2019re alone, man,\u201d he says. \u201cI see this lone guy walking around. I thought that\u2019s me right now. It spoke to me in that way. So, I used it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndigo Park\u201d comes 40 years after the single and album \u201cThe Way It Is,\u201d Hornsby’s debut. In the years since, he has been impossible to categorize, having songs scattered across country, adult contemporary, rock, jazz, bluegrass and folk charts. He’s played with the Grateful Dead and everyone from Bob Dylan to Chaka Khan.<\/p>\n He laughs that the songs hold up from that early time, but he might fire the frontman. \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of that singer. I guess I\u2019d call myself a slow learner in that way. It\u2019s gotten better through the years, at least to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf1More Entertainment News from WTVR.com <\/u><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nChallenging lyrics and sounds<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\n\u2018Nooks and crannies\u2019<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nDon’t miss “Entertainment Tonight” with Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner weekdays at 7 p.m. on CBS 6. Then watch CBS 6 News at 7:30 p.m. with Bill Fitzgerald.<\/b><\/h2>\n