'Life's questions are much more important than answers'

"The record company has proposed plastic surgery at one point, but I didn't want that. This is my nose. It's a bit big, but it's mine".

The English singer Black can laugh about it, as long as they keep their hands off his nose. He does find it funny that he's not understood as an artist as well. "A lot of people really thought that 'Wonderful life' was an appraisal of life", says the singer/songwriter. Irony used to be his strongest weapon, but on the new album, simply titled 'Black', that has changed.
A yup for one, a softie for the other. What's it like to be completely misunderstood? Black shrugs his shoulders and laughs. Since his debut in 1987 he's encountered nothing but misunderstanding. Black, born in 1962 in Liverpool as Colin Vearncombe, sings profound, ironic songs about life. Those songs are packed in luxurious, almost kitsch melodies that are so easy listening that they're almost muzak.
There, in that music, lies the source for the misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Black can easily measure up to the standards of songwriters like Matt Johnson (The The) or Elvis Costello. Blacks music often sounds trouble-free and sleek. Glorious piano's, clear guitar sounds in major and playfully skipping saxophones. The happy-sounding, but lyrically grim 'Wonderful life' reached a seventh place in the Dutch top 40 in 1987.
A lot of people thought 'this is it, this says it all; life is wonderful'. Of course, life can be wonderful, but usually it isn't and it only is if you work towards it. And yes, the music surrounding my lyrics is usually part of the irony", Black declares with an almost apologetic tone.

Bitter

Where 1988's "Comedy" dealt with rejected love and romantic problems in general, his new, third album 'Black' deals with the quality of life.
"Yes. 'Comedy' was made in a time where I was very bitter. I tried to work through the mess of my first marriage, which failed. My songs are always a reflection of my thoughts and things that I'm dealing with." Black says he doesn't know what the audience wants from him.
"I am not arrogant enough to say that I know what the audience wants and that I can give it to them. I give the audience the best I can, but what they take out of it differs from person to person. For me, it's about self-expression. I could do that in my own bedroom, of course, but maybe I'm just making records to life off my music."
"This new record I simply entitled 'Black' because there are no messages in the lyrics. The questions that I ask are much more important than the answers. If I were to give answers I would place myself into a position where I say what's right or wrong. Who am I to tell the people what they should or shouldn't do? This attitude make me an individualist."

Blacks lyrics on his new album have become more accessible. The songs are no longer exclusively about himself. On 'Black' he shows, again with very polished music, various sides of life. 'Feel like change', for example, is about the powerless position of the individual in a society that is focused on the masses, and 'Here it comes again' about acceptance of fate despite knowing better.
"It's a desperate cry, 'Feel like change'. The only thing I'm putting across is that the world doesn't have to be like it is, and that you don't have to succumb to all the misery - you can change your life. In 'Here it comes again' I'm talking about the fact that humanity isn't learning from past mistakes."
"I want to let the listener know that there are other visions in life than just mine", says Black. "I want the confront the audience with questions from different viewpoints. I'm only asking questions. The answers I'm not giving, I'm searching them, myself!"