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Karl Wallinger digs into the past for World Party's new album, Egyptology.

By Neil Gladstone

Though the title of World Party's fourth album, Egyptology (Enclave), suggests a link with ancient history, main songwriter Karl Wallinger wants his music to capture the sound of a much more recent past: 1968.

"I don't know why I'm hung up on that stuff," says the 39-year-old Wallinger, on the phone from his home in London. "It's my age, but there's also something in [the music of that era]." That was the time when groups like the Beatles and Beach Boys were taking chances and writing great songs for the sake of it rather than just churning out hits. The Beatles' White Album is filled with the kind of songs Wallinger loves. Silly ditties such as "Cry Baby Cry" and "Martha My Dear" that we all know, but never did much on the charts.

Like the White Album, Egyptology bounces between genres: "It is Time" is a peppy rave-up, "Beautiful Dream" is a strummy funk number, and "Hercules" is old-school pop-blues. All have the texture of classic rock without the dead-on derivation of Lenny Kravitz. Only a few of the tracks are potential singles. Egyptology is a collection of songs that begs to be seen as a whole piece rather than a smattering of hits watered down by album cuts.

Wallinger's album-oriented approach might not be the most marketable option in an era that makes superstars out of one-hit wonders, but the musician opts for personal fulfillment over financial gain. It's part of the reason that four years have passed since the last World Party album, Bang!, was released. Wallinger spent much of the intervening time studying video technology and graphic design programs. He also gave himself a course in Beatleology by remaking "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" to the letter. With the scores in one hand and the Abbey Road studio recording notes in the other, Wallinger broke down the original version of those songs and remade them. Some parts he played note for note and other parts, such as trumpet, he programmed into a sequencer and had a sampler play back.

"You can really divide the new album into songs I made before and after 'Penny Lane,'" he figures, "because you need an amazing bass sound for that song; so once I learned how to do that it helped me with my recording techniques." His version of The Beatles classic was released in England as the B-side of the "Beautiful Dream" single, but there are no plans to issue it in America.

Unlike other '60s rock disciples, Wallinger isn't hell-bent on recording everything the way it was done 30 years ago. Though he has a lot of vintage equipment in his Seaview studio, it's often broken. The majority of the tracks in his studio are digital rather than analog. He likes the fact that new technology makes it easier to make music. 

"I'm not one of those who think you should pass an exam to play music. I think it's a good thing that technology is available for people to play music the way it's never been played before. By the same law I allow myself to be involved in video and graphics in a way that technology allows me to be."

His interest in computer graphics came in handy when making Egyptology's cover. The CD booklet, designed by Wallinger, features a collage of pictures reminiscent of the poster that comes with the White Album as well as plenty of hieroglyphics. Though Wallinger would like to make his own videos, he admits that he's not quite accomplished enough to do it on his own yet. He still had a strong hand in the making of the new video for "It is Time." Eventually he'd like everything World Party puts out to have a personal flavor.

"When you see the Smashing Pumpkins doing the video for the Batman film it doesn't seem like it's coming from an individual," he says. "It [seems to be coming from] Swiss bankers and Hollywood film companies... I just wanna be me."

For Egyptology, Wallinger wanted to simplify things. Where Bang! had been a collaborative effort between bassist Dave Catlin-Birch, drummer Chris Sharrock and Wallinger, this album was the effort of a one-man band with occasional guests. Sharrock's efforts were enlisted for eight out of Egyptology's 15 tracks, Johnson Somerset helped make a couple loops, and a former bandmate, ex-Waterboy Anthony Thistlethwaite, played sax on "Call Me Up" — the rest is Wallinger. Egyptology sounds more like 1990s Goodbye Jumbo than Bang! or the folkier 1986 debut, Private Revolution. Yet as much as the music sounds like a full band, the multi-instrumentalist downplays the effort it takes to make an album by himself.

"Everyone thinks that I slave over these tracks forever and I'm a perfectionist, but most of the songs on the album were recorded on the same night I wrote them."

As for the lyrics, there is a low-key rumination on mortality running through songs like "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb" and "Always." Wallinger admits to being heavily affected by the death of his mother (in 1995) and Kurt Cobain.

Overall, the album contains more openness about the musician's personal feelings and fewer declarations about the world. Turning 40 in October, he figures he's less concerned about what people will think about his personal reflections.

Then, unsure if he's let down his humble guard in favor of self-aggrandizement, Wallinger explains why he likes to be a one-man band: "Maybe I'm a self-effacing guy who just wants to make music, or maybe I'm a control freak like Adolf Hitler. I don't know."

Live, World Party will be a five-piece with Wallinger, Catlin-Birch and Sharrock joined by Amanda Kramer (former member of 10,000 Maniacs) and John Turnball (onetime guitarist for Ian Dury & The Blockheads).