Even Jeff Burrows had to admit shaking his head the first time he realized that 2015 would mark the 20th anniversary of his band’s breakout album.
Burrows is a co-founder and drummer for the dynamic Canadian rock power trio The Tea Party. He, alongside bandmates Stuart Chatwood (bass/keyboards) and singer/guitarist Jeff Martin are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the release of The Edges of Twilight – the album that set the band on a course for superstardom. It’s a course that hasn’t been diminished even after an extended and often enmity-filled layoff that only saw the band reconvene only in 2011 after seven years apart.
The Tea Party formed in 1990 in Toronto and brought together the three long-time friends who grew up and honed their musicianship and songwriting craft in their hometown of Windsor. After a self-produced indie release, they were signed by EMI Music Canada, which released their 1993 album, Splendor Solis. Featuring an ethereal, exotic, Indian-inspired brand of rock that brought comparisons to The Doors and Led Zeppelin at times, the singles and videos for the songs Save Me and The River were hits on rock radio and MuchMusic, and teased the sort of quality and cohesiveness of sound that was to fully blossom on the group’s next album – The Edges of Twilight.
“For us we were all talking about the sophomore jinx. That second album is either do or die. And I remember talking to the guys in Moist and the guys in the Headstones, Junkhouse and Our Lady Peace at the time and they were surprised at how prolific we were at that time, and how quickly we were churning out albums. We felt we had to go for it. We had a very definite idea of what we wanted to do with that second album and we set out to do it,” said Burrows recently.
“Even though we were writing the album throughout 1994, right in the middle of the ‘grunge’ thing, we didn’t let any of that impact what we wanted to create. We have always been about writing what we want to write – the kind of songs and albums that we want to hear.
“We didn’t have a preconceived notion or a mould that we needed to put the songs into – no prefab idea of what each song and structure should be. If you listen to Edges, there is almost zero structure to most of those songs.”
Burrows explained that he, Martin and Chatwood spend endless hours jamming out ideas in their rehearsal space, blocking out the outside world in a sort of songwriting incubator. The result speaks for itself, with songs like The Bazaar, Sister Awake, Fire in the Head becoming rock radio and video staples that are considered to be classic Canadian rock fare to this day, and live concert high spots.
“It was nice the way everything evolved out of those intense jams. We really worked and crafted those songs so by the time we made it to the studio [A&M Studios in Los Angeles] we were able to flesh out all of those ideas because we had access to the best studio toys and equipment at our fingertips finally, to bring our vision to life,” he said.
“So we had baked a really great dish and then we served it up in the studio with all the best kitchen equipment you could by. It was really quite a spectacular experience. And that’s what happens out of jam sessions when you allow yourself the time and you can get management and the label to free you from a lot of other commitments you might normally otherwise have.”
Another significant factor in the evocative power of The Edges of Twilight was the fact that the band was tighter as a performing unit, as a songwriting collaboration and as friends.
“That first album you have your whole life to write. When you get to your second album and you’ve toured 200 or more days out of 365 days of the year you start developing a chemistry. You really start to work it and we wanted everyone to realize that this was our sound, this was how we are and that weren’t going to just follow the trends,” Burrows said.
“This album forced people to understand that we’re not going to play by any particular rules. We’re not going to fit into your mould. You might not like the next record we do and we’re fine with that, but with Edges of Twilight we set ourselves up for that sense of individuality and it set the tone for our career. And it remains the case to this day.”
What also helped spread the popularity of the album was that video was still a dominant marketing phenomena in the music industry. And The Tea Party spared little expense and spent a great deal of time working with various directors to ensure the videos were as professional and imagery-laden as the songs themselves.
“Without a good video, you weren’t going to get much play. For us, it was always about meeting the director and making sure we were on the same page. Actually, we would actually have a number of directors come to us and make presentations and pitches. I think we chose good directors who followed the vision we had and created videos that are pretty timeless and didn’t fall into the cliché 1990s video,” he said.
Edges of Twilight is The Tea Party’s most commercially successful album, going double platinum in Canada and platinum in Australia (where Martin has resided for the past number of years.)
The band re-recorded acoustic versions of some of the Edges material, releasing the Alhambra EP in 1996, followed by the more industrial sounding Transmission album in 1997. Triptych was released in 1999, followed by The Interzone Mantras two years later and Seven Circles in 2004.
When Burrows, Martin and Chatwood reunited for some shows in 2011, they released a live album recorded in Australia in 2012. The band’s first studio album in a decade, The Ocean at the End, came out in 2014 to popular and critical acclaim.
A new deluxe 20th anniversary release of The Edges of Twilight will see a remastered CD and LP alongside a bonus CD of outtakes, alternate and live versions of the songs. It will be released Sept. 4.
“What remastering can do is it can elevate trebles, basses and mids and level off certain parts, and also bring to life other parts of the song that might not have shone through as much as you wanted them to shine initially. We’re not really adjusting the mix, but tweaking the EQ scope. And that really can make a difference,” Burrows explained.
“As for our ‘B-side’ stuff, there’s a live BBC recording and some demos on there. So remastering those means that they’re all at the same level and makes one nice, cohesive unit as an album.”
As for the forthcoming tour, which has seen many of the dates already selling out, Burrows said they will be playing the album in its entirety.
“It’s like what Rush did with Moving Pictures. It’s ‘An Evening With The Tea Party’ kind of thing. The first set will be The Edges of Twilight from top to bottom. Then there will be a 20-minute intermission for everyone to go buy a t-shirt or sweatshirt. And then we come back and play another hour’s worth of hits. We’re not sure what other songs we’re going to do yet. I am hoping we can change it up a little bit from time to time. I know everyone expects to hear certain songs, but I kind of want to give the audiences something a little bit different,” he said.
As for the concept that this album is two decades old, Burrows has come to terms with it.
“It’s weird because I have always had these parallels between our albums and my personal life. So they’re kind of like
benchmarks. Splendor Solis was a year after my marriage. This album came out the year my oldest son was born. And then the next two albums fall around the time my other two sons were born. So I guess it’s as much a shock for me to realize it’s been 20 years as it is seeing my son, who will be 20 in October, in New York doing his own thing with music. I have kind of dealt with it, I guess,” he said.
“It’s wonderful in many ways, because it says something about the quality of the songs and the continued popularity of the band. But it kind of sucks because, like you said, what the f*** just happened to the last 20 years? And it’s not like I sit around the house all day and listen to how wonderful we area. But it is great when my youngest, who is 14, was listening to the remasters with me and said, ‘wow that’s really good. You guys aren’t bad, dad.’”
The tour begins two shows in Windsor, Sept. 4 and 5, before moving to the London Music Hall on Sept. 8, the Regent Theatre in Oshawa on Sept. 10, The Roxy in Barrie Sept. 11, the next night at Maxwell’s in Waterloo; Sept. 13 in Sarnia at Rustic and at the Hamilton Place Theatre on Sept. 16 before heading elsewhere in Canada. A date at Massey Hall in Toronto has been set for Sept. 26.
For more information the band, the tour and the 20th anniversary edition of The Edges of Twilight, visit www.teaparty.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
