Semisonic's Dan Wilson on the 'undemanding hopefulness' behind 'Little Bit of Sun'
Left to right: John Munson, Jacob Slichter and Dan Wilson of Semisonic performing at The Current's 18th Anniversary Weekend on Jan. 27 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
Darin Kamnetz for MPR News
If you haven’t heard his name, you’ve definitely heard his music: Minnesota native Dan Wilson is a musician and lead singer in the alternative rock group Semisonic, who hit it big with 1998’s “Closing Time.”
But as a songwriter, Dan has also written hits for dozens of artists, including Adele, The Chicks, Taylor Swift and Phantogram.
Semisonic will release their first new album in over 20 years Friday. It’s called “Little Bit of Sun.”
Dan Wilson joined MPR News reporter Nina Moini to talk about it.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Well, if you haven't heard our next guest's name, you've definitely heard his music. Minnesota native Dan Wilson is a musician and lead singer in the alternative rock group Semisonic, who hit it big with the 1998 "Closing Time." But as a songwriter, Dan has also written hits for dozens of artists, including Adele, The Chicks, Taylor Swift, and Phantogram. Semisonic will release their first new album in over 20 years this Friday, November 3rd. It's called "Little Bit of Sun." And Dan is on the line with us. Welcome to Minnesota Now, Dan.
DAN WILSON: Hi, how are you?
NINA MOINI: I'm really well. Thank you for being here. So Dan, 20 years is a long time. What's taken so long? I guess you've been busy with all these other hits.
DAN WILSON: I had a lot of other things going on, but I really did-- every year or so, John Munson from Semisonic would mention to me or call me up or say, hey, you don't have any new songs that we could do, do you? And I would check and think about it and work and sort of sometimes try to write a couple, and I just never could quite get the right vibe until sometime in 2018, I kind of, I suddenly was able to get back in the mood and the right almost personality. And I wrote a whole bunch of songs for the band, and that's when we did our EP, You're Not Alone." And that's what led to this new album, "Little Bit of Sun."
NINA MOINI: Nice. Well, let's take a listen to a song from the album, the title track you just mentioned, "Little Bit of Sun."
[SEMISONIC, "LITTLE BIT OF SUN"]
SEMISONIC: (SINGING) Come rescue me because I'm all alone. And I can't fight this darkness on my own. Come set me straight 'cause I've been losing my mind. Most things that made me laugh just make me cry. Little bit of sun, little bit of sky. I think I see it--
NINA MOINI: Oh, a little bit of sun. I don't know if you know, Dan, but we got snow today, so we could use it.
DAN WILSON: Oh, boy.
NINA MOINI: Tell us a little bit about what that song means to you.
DAN WILSON: Well, let's see. I mean, I wrote it at the end of-- in December of 2020 with a friend of mine, Amy Allen. And I was kind of trying to visualize a lot of different circumstances maybe getting better in my life and also in the world. And so, and I feel like it kind of captures that, that sort of-- I don't know-- undemanding hopefulness. I'm not asking to win the lottery. I'm just literally asking for just a shred of hope. And that's what the song means to me. Plus, it was the starting point for this new album, and so it means a lot to me just on that level.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, songs can get us all through tough times. And usually, a songwriter might dream of writing like one hit. You've written several. In addition to "Closing Time," we mentioned some of them off the top-- "Someone Like You," Adele. And so those last songs, I mean, you've won Grammy Awards for these, and then they get people singing karaoke. They're at weddings. What does it feel like to be such a big part of people's lives and kind of hear them singing along?
DAN WILSON: It's funny because when I was starting out, I experienced it from the other side. I was obsessed with certain artists, and I listened so carefully to their music. And I was so into it. It didn't really occur to me that I could turn the tables and be the person that provided that experience for other people. That was a slow process. And I almost only really awakened to it in the middle of my music career. I didn't really realize that that's what it really was about, was that two-way street that is being a music and music listener and a music maker.
NINA MOINI: What does it feel like when people tell you how meaningful your music has been for them and just their memories?
DAN WILSON: It's kind of surreal. It's kind of, it's a little bit crazy, but I feel happy. Sometimes people will say that a certain song of mine got them through a really tough time, and then they'll describe the tough time. And I'll almost feel like unworthy of being part of that--
NINA MOINI: Aw.
DAN WILSON: --healing process because sometimes it's just, people will say these super important things. I just feel kind of honored to be helpful in that way.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, well, words and music are universal. And you grew up in Saint Louis Park, but you live in Los Angeles these days. I bet the weather is pretty nice there. How connected are you still with the Minneapolis music scene here?
DAN WILSON: Oh, well, I get back as often as I can. I was actually in Minneapolis visiting my family this past weekend.
NINA MOINI: Oh, OK.
DAN WILSON: And I have a lot of musician friends still in the Twin Cities, and either just friends for friends' sake or sometimes collaborative friends as well. So that's still a big part of my life.
NINA MOINI: Sure. Well, hey, let's hear another track from the album. This one's called "Don't Fade Away."
[SEMISONIC, "DON'T FADE AWAY"]
SEMISONIC: (SINGING) See the stars on a summer lake, see the satellite. Feel the breeze move along your face through the trees at night. Oh, light, don't fade away. Oh, light, don't fade away.
NINA MOINI: I think I hear that cautiously optimistic, hopeful tone again. Was that kind of your intention there, Dan?
DAN WILSON: I think I was that was the mood I was in when I was writing all these songs. And this one feels like-- this one is very much about Minnesota. It starts out, "See the stars on a summer lake, see the satellite." And so it's like standing at the edge of a Minnesota lake in the dark. And the song ends with, "Otter tail on a mirror's face, Milky Way too bright." It's like, suddenly, a-- we've all probably seen an otter kind of break the surface of a smooth nighttime lake. It's quite powerful. And so I wanted to just capture that sense of being up in the woods and kind of almost coming face to face with nature and your own momentary existence.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, it's sort of painting a picture, telling a story. And one of the neat things on Minnesota Now, when they have artists on, we like to ask them for a song that's inspired them. And so we asked you, and you chose the 1976 song "Coyote" by Joni Mitchell, a storyteller for sure. Let's listen to a bit of that.
[JONI MITCHELL, "COYOTE"]
JONI MITCHELL: (SINGING) No regrets, coyote. We just come from such different sets of circumstance. I'm up all night in the studios, and you're up early on your ranch. You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail while the sun is ascending, and I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel. There's no comprehending.
NINA MOINI: Hmm. So what is it that made you choose that Joni Mitchell song?
DAN WILSON: Well, that Joni Mitchell song, I first heard when I was a teenager, and I was making a lot of music. And I had heard mostly pretty pop things, The Beatles and great stuff, Carole King, motown. And that song was just so different from all the other songs. And it was such a-- it was all about the story and the kind of atmosphere.
And later in life-- when I was 16 when I first heard the song, I didn't really know about wanderlust or even leaving home or traveling. And later, the song's theme of being like a troubadour, a wanderer, traveling the world and making music, I didn't even realize that's what it was about at first. But then I related to it on that level. So it's just a beautiful thing.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and I mean, when I think about all the different styles of artists that you've made music with, it's almost sort of like you're like a songwriting chameleon. Do you try to write for them from another perspective, or how do you write for different folks?
DAN WILSON: I'm not sure if I'm a chameleon. I think what I do is I try to kind of bring myself to the session my own sense of what might be a good idea, what might be maybe what I'd like to hear them say in a song, my collaborator, what I'd like to hear from them, as a fan almost. So I'm still very much myself in the sessions. I'm just more focused on, let's make it as much you as we possibly can right now, not me.
NINA MOINI: Sure, a collaboration, really. And so, I hear you were on tour last summer. Any shows or anything planned for this new album?
DAN WILSON: Yes, there are a couple of shows coming up, Twin Cities shows over the next many months.
NINA MOINI: Nice.
DAN WILSON: And then I'm hoping that next summer, we can get out on the road again because it was epically fun and challenging to tour again. But I really want to do it more.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Well, we'll be looking forward to that and the new album. Thank you so much, Dan.
DAN WILSON: Total pleasure, thank you.
NINA MOINI: That's Minnesota native Dan Wilson, musician and lead singer in the alternative rock group Semisonic. Their new album is out Friday, November 3, "Little Bit of Sun."
DAN WILSON: Hi, how are you?
NINA MOINI: I'm really well. Thank you for being here. So Dan, 20 years is a long time. What's taken so long? I guess you've been busy with all these other hits.
DAN WILSON: I had a lot of other things going on, but I really did-- every year or so, John Munson from Semisonic would mention to me or call me up or say, hey, you don't have any new songs that we could do, do you? And I would check and think about it and work and sort of sometimes try to write a couple, and I just never could quite get the right vibe until sometime in 2018, I kind of, I suddenly was able to get back in the mood and the right almost personality. And I wrote a whole bunch of songs for the band, and that's when we did our EP, You're Not Alone." And that's what led to this new album, "Little Bit of Sun."
NINA MOINI: Nice. Well, let's take a listen to a song from the album, the title track you just mentioned, "Little Bit of Sun."
[SEMISONIC, "LITTLE BIT OF SUN"]
SEMISONIC: (SINGING) Come rescue me because I'm all alone. And I can't fight this darkness on my own. Come set me straight 'cause I've been losing my mind. Most things that made me laugh just make me cry. Little bit of sun, little bit of sky. I think I see it--
NINA MOINI: Oh, a little bit of sun. I don't know if you know, Dan, but we got snow today, so we could use it.
DAN WILSON: Oh, boy.
NINA MOINI: Tell us a little bit about what that song means to you.
DAN WILSON: Well, let's see. I mean, I wrote it at the end of-- in December of 2020 with a friend of mine, Amy Allen. And I was kind of trying to visualize a lot of different circumstances maybe getting better in my life and also in the world. And so, and I feel like it kind of captures that, that sort of-- I don't know-- undemanding hopefulness. I'm not asking to win the lottery. I'm just literally asking for just a shred of hope. And that's what the song means to me. Plus, it was the starting point for this new album, and so it means a lot to me just on that level.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, songs can get us all through tough times. And usually, a songwriter might dream of writing like one hit. You've written several. In addition to "Closing Time," we mentioned some of them off the top-- "Someone Like You," Adele. And so those last songs, I mean, you've won Grammy Awards for these, and then they get people singing karaoke. They're at weddings. What does it feel like to be such a big part of people's lives and kind of hear them singing along?
DAN WILSON: It's funny because when I was starting out, I experienced it from the other side. I was obsessed with certain artists, and I listened so carefully to their music. And I was so into it. It didn't really occur to me that I could turn the tables and be the person that provided that experience for other people. That was a slow process. And I almost only really awakened to it in the middle of my music career. I didn't really realize that that's what it really was about, was that two-way street that is being a music and music listener and a music maker.
NINA MOINI: What does it feel like when people tell you how meaningful your music has been for them and just their memories?
DAN WILSON: It's kind of surreal. It's kind of, it's a little bit crazy, but I feel happy. Sometimes people will say that a certain song of mine got them through a really tough time, and then they'll describe the tough time. And I'll almost feel like unworthy of being part of that--
NINA MOINI: Aw.
DAN WILSON: --healing process because sometimes it's just, people will say these super important things. I just feel kind of honored to be helpful in that way.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, well, words and music are universal. And you grew up in Saint Louis Park, but you live in Los Angeles these days. I bet the weather is pretty nice there. How connected are you still with the Minneapolis music scene here?
DAN WILSON: Oh, well, I get back as often as I can. I was actually in Minneapolis visiting my family this past weekend.
NINA MOINI: Oh, OK.
DAN WILSON: And I have a lot of musician friends still in the Twin Cities, and either just friends for friends' sake or sometimes collaborative friends as well. So that's still a big part of my life.
NINA MOINI: Sure. Well, hey, let's hear another track from the album. This one's called "Don't Fade Away."
[SEMISONIC, "DON'T FADE AWAY"]
SEMISONIC: (SINGING) See the stars on a summer lake, see the satellite. Feel the breeze move along your face through the trees at night. Oh, light, don't fade away. Oh, light, don't fade away.
NINA MOINI: I think I hear that cautiously optimistic, hopeful tone again. Was that kind of your intention there, Dan?
DAN WILSON: I think I was that was the mood I was in when I was writing all these songs. And this one feels like-- this one is very much about Minnesota. It starts out, "See the stars on a summer lake, see the satellite." And so it's like standing at the edge of a Minnesota lake in the dark. And the song ends with, "Otter tail on a mirror's face, Milky Way too bright." It's like, suddenly, a-- we've all probably seen an otter kind of break the surface of a smooth nighttime lake. It's quite powerful. And so I wanted to just capture that sense of being up in the woods and kind of almost coming face to face with nature and your own momentary existence.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, it's sort of painting a picture, telling a story. And one of the neat things on Minnesota Now, when they have artists on, we like to ask them for a song that's inspired them. And so we asked you, and you chose the 1976 song "Coyote" by Joni Mitchell, a storyteller for sure. Let's listen to a bit of that.
[JONI MITCHELL, "COYOTE"]
JONI MITCHELL: (SINGING) No regrets, coyote. We just come from such different sets of circumstance. I'm up all night in the studios, and you're up early on your ranch. You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail while the sun is ascending, and I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel. There's no comprehending.
NINA MOINI: Hmm. So what is it that made you choose that Joni Mitchell song?
DAN WILSON: Well, that Joni Mitchell song, I first heard when I was a teenager, and I was making a lot of music. And I had heard mostly pretty pop things, The Beatles and great stuff, Carole King, motown. And that song was just so different from all the other songs. And it was such a-- it was all about the story and the kind of atmosphere.
And later in life-- when I was 16 when I first heard the song, I didn't really know about wanderlust or even leaving home or traveling. And later, the song's theme of being like a troubadour, a wanderer, traveling the world and making music, I didn't even realize that's what it was about at first. But then I related to it on that level. So it's just a beautiful thing.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and I mean, when I think about all the different styles of artists that you've made music with, it's almost sort of like you're like a songwriting chameleon. Do you try to write for them from another perspective, or how do you write for different folks?
DAN WILSON: I'm not sure if I'm a chameleon. I think what I do is I try to kind of bring myself to the session my own sense of what might be a good idea, what might be maybe what I'd like to hear them say in a song, my collaborator, what I'd like to hear from them, as a fan almost. So I'm still very much myself in the sessions. I'm just more focused on, let's make it as much you as we possibly can right now, not me.
NINA MOINI: Sure, a collaboration, really. And so, I hear you were on tour last summer. Any shows or anything planned for this new album?
DAN WILSON: Yes, there are a couple of shows coming up, Twin Cities shows over the next many months.
NINA MOINI: Nice.
DAN WILSON: And then I'm hoping that next summer, we can get out on the road again because it was epically fun and challenging to tour again. But I really want to do it more.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Well, we'll be looking forward to that and the new album. Thank you so much, Dan.
DAN WILSON: Total pleasure, thank you.
NINA MOINI: That's Minnesota native Dan Wilson, musician and lead singer in the alternative rock group Semisonic. Their new album is out Friday, November 3, "Little Bit of Sun."
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