Behind The Release: Sara Bareilles The Blessed Unrest

Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles moved to New York in the midst of making her latest album, The Blessed Unrest, out today on Epic Records (and already #1 on iTunes).

Sara Bareilles

“I feel like I’m being drawn there creatively,” she said in her “Sara Bareilles Makes a Record” video series, offering looks behind-the-scenes in studios from Electric Lady in the West Village to The Village in West LA. Also caught on camera is The Blessed Unrest producer/mixer John O’Mahony, who we profiled last year for his work with Metric.

With co-production mostly from O’Mahony, Bareilles has made an honest and soulful pop record that for all its pretty songs is refreshing for its failure to be any one thing. There’s at least one radio pop anthem – the lead track “Brave” (co-written with fun’s Jack Antonoff) – but the story evolves from there. Bareilles has range. So for the melancholy of a cut like “Manhattan”, she skews jazz, and just lays the song out there – piano and vocal and plaintive horns in just the right places. But throughout you’ll also hear her aptitude for the raw, a la Fiona Apple, and the epic a la Annie Lennox, along with just a touch of the New York indie of an Ingrid Michaelson or Regina Spektor. But ultimately, it’s the pop of Sara Bareilles they’ve captured on The Blessed Unrest, which is after all not so “pop” and not so “indie” and not so “jazz”, but all of it, wrapped up into a new thing that you haven’t exactly heard before.

We caught up with O’Mahony, who’s based out of Electric Lady, to dig a little deeper into how this record came together…

How did you end up working on Sara’s record? Why were you guys a good match?

We were introduced last summer by the band Harper Blynn, who are common friends of ours. We realized that we like a lot of the same records and started to swap ideas for what she might try with her next album. Sara was excited by the prospect of recording in New York and asked me to try a few songs with her, so we scheduled a week at Electric Lady. We dove into work and immediately found the vibe. We both brought different strengths to the table that complemented each other and everything was coming together really fast. It’s likely the most productive seven days I’ve had in the studio. It was also just really fun. Four songs became six and ended up at twelve by the time we were done.

How aware of her previous material when you started working together? What were some of your thoughts going in?

John O’Mahony at Electric Lady. Photo by Curtis Wayne Millard.

I’d heard the singles but had not yet spent time with her albums. I knew she is an incredible singer and soon found out that she has a great all around understanding of music. We decided our plan going in was to not have too much of a plan and allow the songs to take us for a ride.

I just wanted the record to be bold and engaging.

Do you have any thoughts about how her work has changed on this album – from her earlier hits, like “Love Song”??

I don’t think this record is any sort of radical departure, maybe her fans will feel differently. I never make any conscious efforts to steer away from or towards an artist’s previous work. This is a natural progression, reflective of where Sara is today and all the things that have inspired her since her last record. I think her move to New York had a strong influence and the city’s energy compelled her to make an emotionally and sonically raw record.

It seems that you’re most often hired for your mixing skills, but will produce on some projects, like with Metric, and now this record. How do you know when it’s a good fit for you to co-produce, and not just mix? Do you see more production projects in your future?

Yes, I think of myself more as a mixer and never had aspirations to Produce but sometimes I just sort of fall into it. With Metric I’ve always been hired as a mixer but inevitably find myself helping to finish the recording in a frenzy of activity at the end. Sara wanted a Production partner to volley ideas back and forth with in a very collaborative sense. I felt that we could push each other to get the best from one another. That sort of interaction is what makes a good fit for me. I’m open to more Production work materializing in the future but I’m most happy on my mixing desk.

As a producer on this record, to what degree do you think you influenced the creative direction? 

I think we chose a great team and everyone’s personality is on the record to some extent.  We really wanted to use musicians who played in bands rather than guns for hire. Getting the right chemistry is key in both the playing and who to have lunch with everyday. I hired my good friend Kurt Uenala to come on board as our programmer and he made a massive contribution to the record. I don’t have any musical training, I work by ear and taste. I’d give Sara, Kurt and Sarab Singh (on drums) a lot of nonsensical direction and they always came back with exactly what I wanted or something better.

Is there one song that was particularly enjoyable for you to work on? Which one and why?

I guess “Hercules” sort of encapsulates a lot of the ideas I had going into the record, it’s also the first one we recorded so it set the tone for things to come. Sara’s piano and vocal performances are amazing, Sarab and Kurt killed it and my friend Todor Kobakov realized the string ideas I had in my head.

Can you share any takeaways you have from this project? Did you discover anything – ideas, gear, technique, studios, etc. – that you’re happy to be able to bring to your next project?

Get the album at iTunes!

This whole record was made by allowing discoveries to happen along the way and reacting rather than controlling. I try to buy one new piece of gear on every record, this time it was a Retro Instruments 176 Limiter that I used on just about everything. I was also very impressed by the new Telefunken U47 at Germano Studios.

Sara Bareilles // The Blessed Unrest [iTunes]
Epic Records, July 16, 2013
8 of 11 songs produced, recorded & mixed by John O’Mahony
3 songs co-produced and mixed by Mark Endert
Recorded in: Electric Lady Studio A NY, The Village LA, Germano NY
Mixed in: Electric Lady Mix Suite NY
Mastered by: Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound NY

Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.