Haley Bonar: "I don't write everything about my own personal life, I tell stories."

"Everybody wants a story. Something to sell." Bonar says in a press statement. "I’m here to tell you that there isn’t one with this album, at least in the traditional sense, but ten... but what I write is borne of my own set of memories and ideas, and once they are released into the world, they do not belong to me anymore.”

The Minnesota-based artist is following up 2014 long-player Last War with Impossible Dream, which is due out later this summer. The first taste is "I Can Change", a resolute pillar of bold, classic songwriting, with tribal beats and sprawling melodies.

What have you been up to since the release of Last War?

Playing music with my other band, Gramma's Boyfriend, being a mom, writing and recording the songs for Impossible Dream... two years goes by quickly!

How does Impossible Dream follow on from that album?

I'm not sure there was a conscious effort to follow anything, but I did use the same players, and co-produced with my long time guitar player Jacob Hanson. We started working on the songs the summer after Last War came out.

Could you tell us a bit about the new record?

I recorded it at Pachyderm Studio, and we did most of the tracking live. Overdubs followed, but all of the songs on the album are takes, including vocals. My sister Torey Hanson helped with the artwork on the album, and is writing a treatment for "Called You Queen" video as we speak. Alec Soth licensed one of his images for the cover. Everything seemingly fell into place over time.

What have you learned while making it?

That I have become a master of criticizing songs to death, leaving them alone, and returning to them with a new perspective until the record is actually released. Not new, but at least I can recognize my pattern.

How did you write/record "I Can Change"? What's it about?

I wrote it one night in my room while all of my windows were open and the wind was blowing around wildly outside. I felt sort of creeped out, in a good way, and conjured the song from the way I was feeling. I felt like a witch, and the words swirled around me and I found the chords and that was that.

Do you think people can change? Or are we doomed to stay as we've always been?

I think we can, yes. I think we fight against it, and we are creatures of habit, but ultimately it is not impossible.

You've said that the songs don't belong to you once they're released into the world - why not?

Because art is interpretive. I can look at an abstract painting and say "Hey that looks like a naked clown" and I wouldn't be wrong, regardless of what the artist's vision was when they created it.

How do you feel about something so personal not belonging to you anymore? Is it cathartic?

Not at all. I just believe that living in that space when you are writing/recording/scrutinizing a song is very personal. It is also pretty short lived. I don't write everything about my own personal life, I tell stories. What the stories mean to people when they hear them is all theirs.

What are you looking forward to this summer, other than the album coming out?

Spending a few weeks at a cabin. Binge reading books. Eating Dairy Queen. Bike riding with my daughter.

Impossible Dream is released 5 August via Memphis Industries. It follows 2014's Last War. Stream "I Can Change" below, and find Bonar's upcoming UK dates after.

October

21 - Brighton, Green Door Store
22 - Gateshead, The Sage (with Field Music)
23 - Glasgow, The Hug & Pint
24 - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
27 - London, Moth Club
28 - Bristol, The Louisiana
29 - Manchester, The Ritz (with Field Music)