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Eleven years ago, Roland Gift stood at the top of the pop world. As the frontman of the Fine Young Cannibals, Gift received critical and commercial acclaim, massive MTV and radio exposure (across a variety of formats, from college rock to R&B) and the cover of Rolling Stone. Then, at the peak of his success, he walked away from it all, quietly pulling a disappearing act worthy of Cat Stevens or Axl Rose. He acted a bit, but musically, Gift has been M.I.A. for most of the last decade.
Now, just as quietly as he left, Gift is preparing to step back into the fray. His first solo album, tentatively called Long Day's Journey Into Night, will be released next March in the U.K. and shortly thereafter in the States. He began test-driving some of the new material (and reviving some of his favorite FYC songs, including their No. 1 hit "She Drives Me Crazy") last year in England. London's Observer called his two performances at 1999's Edinburgh festival "remarkable not only because of the lasting purity of his voice, but for the stark, melancholy power of his new material."
As for what the new material sounds like, well, Gift himself is a little more straightforward.
"Stylistically, it's not going to be a million miles away from the Cannibals at all, because in that group that was the music that I enjoyed playing," Gift says matter-of-factly. "There's no rapping on it, for instance. Some songs have quite a lot of guitar on them, and there's some songs that don't have any at all."
But even though Gift remains true to the FYC sound, he's adamant that a reunion with fellow Cannibals David Steele (bass) and Andy Cox (guitar) is unlikely (though he notes that did do some dates with Cox last year.) After putting out two albums -- 1986's Fine Young Cannibals and 1989's The Raw and the Cooked -- Gift said the group had simply run its course. "Obviously it had, because we didn't do anything else after," he deadpans, adding that he can't imagine a reunion now.
"I had a dream that we were talking about it, but then something happened and it was clear that it wasn't in the cards at all," he says. "I think I must have been thinking about it, and it was just this little scenario that happened in my dream that showed me it wasn't going to happen."
The solo album, on the other hand, seems to be a sure thing. Gift says the album is finished, but he is still mulling over whether or not to include the cover of Sly and the Family Stone's song "Family Affair" that he recently recorded for a British soap opera of the same name.
"It was good fun to do it," he explains. "It's possible it might be on the album, but I really intended not to have any covers on it at all. But I think we did a pretty good job on it -- nobody's come up to me and said, 'That was my favorite song and you've destroyed it -- I'm going to kill you!' Most people seem to like the version. I was a bit annoyed, actually, because a lot of people say, 'I like your new single -- where can I get it?' And I have to say it's just for the TV at the moment."
RICHARD SKANSE
(October 21, 2000)