Album Notes

It started with Ruins, his first CD, which recounted the rise and fall of his relationship with Alison, a kind of Everywoman who also happens to be a real person -- real enough to guest on the project, replaying her role in the story.

That leads, a couple of years later, to Obsexed, Aria's follow-up. Things have changed: He is playing to new fans who helped propel Ruins to its debut at No. 7 on college radio charts. He's doing national tours, with gigs booked up and down both coasts and plenty of points between. His sound has tightened, toughened, and grown.

He's also on that road we know too well -- the one that leads from the wreckage of love into the wilderness of dating. His adventures along the way are ironic, titillating and fulfilling, all of which leave the traveler wiser than he was when he started out. Fortunately, Aria has a knack for communicating through song, from the bone-crushing riff that kicks off the opening track, "Dig Down Deep," to his unique blend of slamming beat, experimental vocals, and subtle metaphor on "Empty Canvas."

"I have to write this way," Aria insists. "I can't censor myself. It's better for me to get it all out there. That's one reason why it was easier for me to do the whole album alone. I never thought about bringing any other musicians in; I wanted to play all the parts myself."

Setting aside the lyrics, Obsexed is a musical tour de force. In just three days Aria laid down every part himself, weaving them together to create an impression of one killer live band. Strains of punk, power pop, garage -- even jazz, which pops up absurdly in the middle of the furious "Complicated."

"My approach here was the opposite of Ruins, which was compiled over a couple of years," he explains. "I recorded this one very quickly because I wanted to keep a loose, indie rock feel. Really, I was trying to challenge myself; whenever I feel like I'm settling in too much, I shake things up. That was definitely happening throughout Obsexed."

For the lyrics, Aria drew inspiration mostly from the people he'd encountered in his dating odyssey. "I write to get things off my mind," he says. "It's therapy, and I enjoy writing about what goes on in my life."

As documented on Ruins, Phase Two unfolds on Obsexed -- which, despite its chronicle of frustrations and doubts and annoyances, glows with a kind of cautious optimism. "I have a positive attitude," Aria insists. "This comes partly from the fact that I'm a multi-instrumentalist, which means that as a musician I can do whatever I set my mind to do. The idea behind Obsexed is that there's no limit to what you can do if you open your mind to all the possibilities. I'm a single man, having fun and learning from my experiences, trying to better myself. A lot of these songs deal with the freshness of being out there and meeting new people after coming out of a major relationship."