Eddie Owen Presents Emerson Hart (of Tonic) + Meiko

It’s a good album title, Beauty in Disrepair. A telling one, too.

There’s a yin and a yang there. It’s a thread that Emerson Hart, frontman for the multi-platinum band Tonic, comes back to time and again on his new record, his first solo release in over six years.

“Early in my life I learned to appreciate the beauty in things as they grew older,” says Hart. “Houses, furniture, churches, whatever. I think it started after my dad was killed: I lived with my grandfather on his farm, this 19th century mansion. Everything in it was constantly broken, but there was such a beauty to it as well.”

On his new record, Hart touches on loss, but also the beauty of rebirth, newfound love, family and starting a clean slate. Beauty in Disrepair marks a remarkably polished and honest follow-up to his 2007 solo debut Cigarettes & Gasoline, a critically-acclaimed album that spawned two Top 20 singles.

You may very well know Hart from that record. Most likely, you recognize him as the frontman and songwriter for Tonic, the alt-rock band that hit it big with their debut record Lemon Parade, which featured the smash hits “Open Up Your Eyes” and “If You Could Only See.”

A string of massively successful albums followed, including the Grammy-nominated Head on Straight and 2010’s self-titled release.

And Hart is more than happy to talk about his band. But Beauty is a different beast altogether. “This album, and my solo work, is just born out of stuff I don’t want anyone else to say,” says the singer, laughing.

For Beauty in Disrepair, Hart found a willing collaborator in David Hodges, who had found his own success working with the incredibly diverse likes of Kelly Clarkson, Christina Perri and Carrie Underwood. Hart also landed additional support from some trusted friends in LA, as well as his adopted hometown of Nashville (where he, naturally, often writes and records in his 200-year-old farmhouse).

“This record was interesting because I didn’t start out with a template,” says Hart. “My first solo record, I think I wanted to emulate [the Peter Gabriel classic] So. With this one, I wanted a songwriter record, not a Tonic record, but I was having a hard time getting started. I think the people I worked with ended up helping me find my way.”

Collaborators and new sounds aside, Beauty is immediately recognizable as an Emerson Hart record: warm, inviting, accessible. And possessing some killer hooks. “It’s still me,” says Hart. “I could sit here and tell you how much I love bands like Beach House or old Irish music, but I can’t write like that. I have to write songs in my way.”

Lyrically, it’s an intensely reflective album, exposing a lot of personal pain and joy. “Divorce is painful,” admits Hart. “But falling in love again and getting remarried is amazing. And having a young daughter changes your viewpoint. What I learned making this record is that you need to lose the baggage of your last hurt, and focus on the present, making sure you take the steps to make things better in the future.”

That’s an apt description of “Hurricane,” a pop song full of real world wisdom and a killer chorus. For Hart, the single is about “washing away the damage of your youth and having a real awakening.”

It’s also a rich record, wonderfully diverse musically and emotionally. Pianos and acoustic guitars abound. “Mostly Grey,” a favorite of Hart’s, hits the somber notes, while “All is Well” is a pretty, contemplative ballad; and harmonies abound, big and bright on “Best That I Can Give” and “The Lines.”

It’s an album any music fan would love to embrace, including both “Cigarettes and Gasoline” and Tonic fans alike.

[Speaking of... “Tonic will absolutely put out a record next spring or summer. I love my band. They’re caregivers, a pain in the ass, the fuel that keeps me running. All those things.”]

For now, Hart will be hitting the road to support Beauty, playing a mix of intimate venues and (perhaps) a larger tour. “It’s a nice cross-section of fans,” he says. “Fans of my first record. Die-hard Tonic fans. And I’ll play those songs. I wrote ‘em! And then you’ll see those guys who don’t know me, who hear me play ‘If You Could Only See” and their eyes light up and they connect the dots. They’re like, oh, it’s that guy.”

So while recognizing his past, Hart thinks Beauty marks a turning point in his career.

“The whole spark of this record was finding the beauty in healing,” he says. “Learning from the hurt and moving forward. I’ve done that.”

The last time we heard from singer-songwriter Meiko (pronounced MEE-KO), she was touring the world in support of 2012’s The Bright Side, a buoyant, optimistic record awash in the early phases of love. TV shows and commercials across the globe featured the album’s songs, and “Stuck on You” even became a No. 1 radio hit in Japan. Years after launching her songwriting career in the coffeehouses of Los Angeles, Meiko had officially found international recognition.

Her secret affinity for penning unsent letters to the various souls who have penetrated her life inspired her third studio album (and second for Fantasy/Concord) entitled Dear You; a decidedly deeper, darker record about the things that happen once a relationship’s honeymoon phase crashes to a halt. There’s heartbreak, betrayal, and longing enveloped in 11 new songs that mix Meiko’s voice—breathy and intimate—with electronic folk-pop, drum loops, acoustic guitars, keyboards and indelible melodies.

“I like writing letters: love letters, pissed-off letters, breakup letters,” she explains. “Call me passive-aggressive, but it’s easier to write someone a letter than actually confront them in person. I rarely wind up mailing those letters, though. Instead, I turn them into songs. Dear You is an album mostly filled with those unsent notes.”

Meiko turned to producer Jimmy Messer, who also helmed a good chunk of The Bright Side, to help create Dear You’s sophisticated, stripped down sound. Together, the two recorded most of the songs without outside help, only turning to musicians Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow) and the Grooveline Horns (Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band) for key cameos on a handful of tracks. The goal was to keep things simple, highlighting the album’s intimacy without adding too many bells and whistles. At Meiko’s request, though, Messer did sprinkle some synthesizers and electronic percussion into the mix; drawing a bridge between Meiko’s acoustic songwriting and her lifelong appreciation for electronic pioneers like Portishead.

“I’d play each song on my acoustic guitar,” Meiko remembers, “and then Jimmy and I would build it from there. We’d figure out the right tempo, play around with beats and layer some instruments… We even added a reggaeton beat to ‘Sittin’ Here,’ which was the result of me driving over to Jimmy’s studio, getting caught in traffic, and flipping through songs on the Latin stations. Dear You was like our little art project.”

Meiko’s artistic ambitions date back to 2007, when she began landing shows at the Hotel Cafe, the unofficial headquarters of young, up-and-coming songwriters on the West Coast. Things moved quickly from there. She signed with MySpace Records, reissued her self-titled debut record in 2008, and scored a hit on Triple A radio with “Boys with Girlfriends.” Pop, folk, and rock fans loved her; so did music supervisors, who placed Meiko’s songs in episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, and other prime-time TV shows. After signing with Concord Records in 2011, she released The Bright Side, which climbed to No. 1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Albums chart. Meiko hit the road again, selling out concerts from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

Now, following seven years of writing, performing, traveling and learning, Meiko is ready to release her most accomplished album to date. Taking hold of her secret letters, she turns them into sweet ‘n sour alt-pop (“Be Mine”), electronic lullabies (“The Cloud Song”), minimalist indie rock (“Deep Sweat”), and digital folk (“Wake Up”).

Dear You is a breakup album that’s easy to fall in love with.