Howard Jones is back and "In the Running."
The name of his new album sums up his attitude. "It's a cheeky title, really, for me," he said in an interview with the Deseret News."I've been away for three years, but I'm back and I'm proud of what I've done, and I'm not going to be all British and self-deprecating."
"HoJo" will also be back for the fifth time in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 25, for a sold-out acoustic performance in Kingsbury Hall at 7:30 p.m. He'll play piano, accompanied by percussionist Carole Steele.
The English singer and songwriter is well known among fans of modern and pop music as a keyboard wizard. Jones is especially popular in Utah. During his last tour in 1989 he played to an enthusiastic crowd of more than 10,000 at ParkWest. Salt Lake City is one of his favorite places in the world to play, but he says he has no idea why Utahns like him so much. "I guess (my music) really suits them," he said from his room at a Chicago Days Inn.
Jones has wanted to do an acoustic tour for several years. "It feels a bit like coming full circle . . . because I started with a one-man show." He finds it important to vary how he presents his music, and playing acoustic piano with a percussionist will "strip" the songs to their original intent.
"I've left my synthesizers at home."
For fans who prefer Howard Jones with synthesizers (or weren't quick enough to get tickets), he's planning a full-scale tour in fall or late summer. He hopes to visit Salt Lake City then as well.
Saturday's "unplugged" performance should fit the focus of "In the Running." The album isn't acoustic, but Jones plays piano on every track, a departure from past albums.
"In the Running" also took longer than usual to produce - a year to write and 18 months to record. He attributes that to an increasing desire to experiment with the music. "I don't necessarily accept the first idea that comes into my head . . . it might be the 17th or 18th idea." He did most of the recording at his home studio.
Jones worked to produce an album that hangs together as a whole. He found the juxtaposition of some of the songs in 1989's "Cross That Line" a bit too eclectic - "Powerhouse" and "Guardians of the Breath," for instance.
"I want all the tracks to feel that they belong together as a group. . . . I've always found my favorite albums hang together. I think `Human's Lib' (his 1984 debut) did that."
A lot of fans perceive Jones' music as optimistic. That's true mostly of the singles that get radio play, such as "Things Can Only Get Better," from 1985's "Dream Into Action." But he says that perception doesn't hold up entirely if one looks further into his albums, where he deals with heavy subjects, such as the need to care for the environment. There's an underlying hope, though.
"I don't ever like to leave people with doom and gloom. I always like to present a way out of every problem. (Otherwise) there's no reason to care anymore. People don't have any incentive to try and change the world."
Jones hasn't thought much about what he'll do after the two tours. "I suppose I'll start writing again and start work again on my next album - and I'll see you in three years."
In the long term, he'll keep on making music. "That's what I love to do. I love making records, I love writing songs. . . . It's something I feel compelled to do as well. It's not something I do as a hobby or a job; it's compulsory for me."
A few of Jones' well-known tunes are "New Song," "No One Is to Blame," "Life In One Day," "Like to Get to Know You Well," "What Is Love," "The Prisoner" and his current single, "Lift Me Up."