Album Notes

The 2007 release of Jonathan Seet's 3rd album, Thanks To Science, We've Got Love, comes after a long period of waiting as a follow up to his 2003 critical darling, Arousal Disasters. All the recordings were finished and mastered by November 2005. Why the wait?

Says Seet plaintively, "I just didn't know what to do with it. In fact, I didn't even know it was an album!"

In truth, the making of Thanks To Science was a fairly relaxed process; it is a selection of 13 songs which Seet says was some of the more finished pieces from a large catalog of demos. Many of the tracks were written as material submitted with his publisher for film and TV placement. It wasn't until friends and fans who heard the demos remarked that it sounded like an album that Seet considered releasing it.

"There certainly was no rush to release anything and they just came together naturally." The diversity in style and approach balanced by Seet's assured ability show just how leisurely the process was: "I pretty much just wrote whatever the hell I wanted without any consideration as to what would happen to them next. Michael (Kreher, Offensive Tie Publishing, in Boston) would call me up and we'd go through a list of interesting projects film and TV projects and I'd just start writing if I felt I had an approach. It was pretty fantastic to have that freedom. The whole thing was written without guise or intent."

All of the songs on Thanks To Science were performed and recorded by Seet his home recording studio. Several tracks include long-time friend and collaborator, Rob Greenway, on drums. Some of the tunes feature Seet's trademark massive pop-production value while others take a minimalist approach. It's an album that can be compulsively listened to several times in succession without fatigue.

Jonathan Seet's writing style has been called lush, cinematic, articulate, intelligent and "perfectly-formed pop symphonies." It's also been called sensual and poetic. While Arousal Disasters was thematically linked by vice and virtue in love, Thanks To Science is much more divergent. It's still narrative and conversational but it also seems more personal. Some songs, like "My Wasted Youth" and "Watching You Sleep" are almost confessional. "It's Not Enough" is a back-beat rocker while "Come On" is a straight-up call-to-arms anthem.

He's also maintained that wry sense of humour, irony and wordplay. "Fashion Tips For The Homeless" might sound un-P.C. but it's merely a metaphorical observation on the state of religion and fanaticism in our modern day world. "Killing All My Friends" is a harmless, but gorgeous love song. The only killing going on here is in the killer catchy melodies and the unforgettable lyrics.

Along with all this new material on Thanks To Science is also Seet's deft cover version of "I Will Wait For You." Seet cites Connie Francis' version which made an appearance in Matt Groening's TV show, Futurama, as the inspiration for his cover version. "I had heard this song many times before but when I saw it on the show I couldn't help but think that if the song was going to be in Futurama, they might have made a different choice if they'd heard a modernized interpretation." Of course, that only underscores his acumen for writing for visual media. "You have to give enough information to paint a mental picture but not so much that it distracts you from what you're seeing."

Seet's singing voice is still a soaring tour-de-force as well. In the 2007 Toronto Vagina Monologues V-Day performances, he contributed a live set of solo material. One of the Monologues performers approached him afterwards (with her boyfriend beside) and confessed, "that was the most beautiful, stunning performances I've ever seen. I've never seen anyone perform like that. I cried." Her boyfriend nods. True story. Seet adds, "then he gave me his orange soda."