HOLLYWOOD – Lindsey Buckingham, the sonic architect of Fleetwood Mac, has been through a lot: megastardom during the decadent 1970s; a split with bandmate and girlfriend Stevie Nicks that defined the rock ‘n’ roll breakup; 20 years of balancing pop stardom with an irrepressible avant-garde urge; the only band reunion by presidential request (for Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration); first-time parenthood at 48. But he never expected to live in the swanky Los Angeles area of Brentwood.
“I was living in this Neutra-style house way up in the hills in Bel-Air,” said Buckingham, a 57-year-old father of three. “I’d had that property for 30 years – it was my bachelor pad. Fleetwood Mac cut ‘Tango in the Night’ there in 1987, and Mick (Fleetwood) lived in a Winnebago in the front yard.
“… But it’s not a great area for kids. … So we decided to get into a more ‘Father Knows Best’ environment.”
In October, Buckingham released “Under the Skin,” his first solo album in 14 years. Recorded mostly in hotel rooms during Fleetwood Mac’s reunion tour in 2003, using little more than a guitar delay pedal and an acoustic guitar, it includes material dating 10 years or more. Two songs were recorded in the studio with Mac drummer Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, and one features Memphis-style horns arranged by Beck’s father, David Campbell. Otherwise, it’s all Buckingham.
“I spent a long time focusing on something very narrow, probably in reaction to being part of such a large machine,” he said of these songs. “With Fleetwood Mac, I walled up a lot of things. Part of the process is taking down those walls to see if there’s anything left inside.”
“Under the Skin” is a locket portrait of the pop star at midlife, trying to honor but also escape a weighty reputation. On this quiet, intense album, Buckingham’s guitar lines form delicate knots around incantatory melodies, and the echo of heavy delay helps his quavering tenor capture the full-court press of time. Buckingham finds the cadence of one of life’s most difficult passages – the journey into unequivocal adulthood.
Artists have a particularly hard time with that transition; Buckingham’s personality, friends say, is quintessentially artistic. That may be why his music so vividly captures the tension between imagination and real life.
Having children blew open Buckingham’s well-guarded self-absorption. “As a parent, there is a push-pull,” he said.
“Under the Skin” is an innocent thing, more in sync with the experiments of younger artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Joseph Arthur than with typical rock-legend side projects. He hopes new fans will find him on tour. “I don’t know who my audience is,” he admitted.
Lindsey Buckingham performs tonight in Seattle.
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