If there is a list of musicians overdue to release a new album, Leslie Mendelson has been at the top or very close to it for a long time. Until now. Mendelson’s latest release, After the Party, her first since 2020’s If You Can’t Say Anything Nice is a bold showcase of her growth in front of and behind the microphone.
Mendelson’s patented lyrical vulnerability permeates the album. She laments, “Don’t write me off because I’m down on my luck. So please think of me before I fall apart” on opener Have a Little Heart. Another shiny example is My Own Worst Enemy. “Why do I have to be my own worst enemy? How am I always the last to see, that all I am’s my own worst enemy?” This go around, Mendelson matches this vulnerability with a newfound confidence and acceptance on her part that it’s okay if the world isn’t the utopia we all want it to be.
Four albums into a decades long career, Mendelson wisely uses the connections she’s made along the way to take this release to new heights. Her longtime writing partner/producer Steve McEwan is along for the ride. For the first time in her career, Mendelson brought in two additional producers. The legendary Peter Asher who she knew through her work with Jackson Browne signed on along with fast rising producer Tyler Chester. The album was recorded at Browne’s Groove Masters studio.
The impact is profound and immediate as Mendelson travels new roads in the voyeuristic Other Girls or the psychedelic David Bowie nod in Signs of Life. Her confidence and fearlessness to expand her sound creates a “bookmark” as she puts it in her wide ranging career.
Mendelson sat down with Slideandbanjo.com for a behind the scenes look at the making of the album. She also breaks down each track on After the Party and shares the unique backstory on how each fit on the release. She begins by discussing how Asher and Chester came to produce the album. “Steve and I work well together. I thought it was a good idea to get a third. I’m like, we will kill each other if we try to make another record alone. I wanted the expertise of someone who has made records I love. I wanted someone to make me think outside the box, or do things different that I would do myself. We can do it fine. It was exciting to get outside expertise.”
“I was elated to work with Tyler Chester. I loved what he did with Madison Cunningham. When the opportunity came to work with Peter Asher, I said I’d be crazy not to. I sent some songs to Tyler and he picked a few he liked the best. The same with Peter. He picked the ones he liked. At the end, they were all songs that fit the opportunity with each producer. When I had a collection of songs that went together, I was like this sounds like an album to me. If Beyonce can have three or four producers for an album, so can I.”
Have A Little Heart- It’s not about me or a relationship I’ve had. It’s one of the first songs written during the pandemic. I was talking with my sister. We were both going through difficult times. I realized I had this anger around me. I was not happy. The point of the song is, if you give love, you get love. If you keep the love to yourself and don’t put it out there, you’re selfish. Love begets love. It’s making yourself vulnerable when you’re going through a hard time. It’s first on the album because it felt like a very “me” song. You want to let everyone in. What a better way to do it then being at my most vulnerable.
Other Girls- It’s a joke that came out of my mouth. Then I thought it could be an interesting song and perspective. It’s about being in a relationship and dealing with jealously. My fun way to turn jealously on its head. There are so many dynamics that people have in their relationship. You have no idea what anyone is dealing with. This is my take on how to deal with jealousy in a relationship. It’s a fun playful song. (S&B- If the listener didn’t know you, it could have a very different meaning) That’s great. It’s the best thing you can do as a songwriter. To have your perspective and everyone else has their own take.
Rock n Roll on the Radio – The origin of the song came from being inspired by looking for good rock and roll on the car radio. It’s a universal feeling. The first time I played the song, I was at a songwriter event with Sierra Hull. She played mandolin with me that I loved. When Peter, Steve and I were thinking about it, we referenced the R.E.M. song Losing My Religion where you can have a mandolin and drums at the same time.
After the Party- For this song, I wanted the 60’s dreamy feel. Andy Warhol’s After the Party painting is the inspiration. I was trying to portray myself being at a Velvet Underground concert. I wanted to extend the end. It’s basically done live. I didn’t have to do much to it.
The Good Life- The sentiment to the song is looking back on times past with a friend. Trying not to focus on regrets. I’m always thinking I could have done that better, but there’s no point in that. It’s a waste of time. It’s trying to embrace the future. As far as the sound, we were going for “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.” The breezy thing he does. It feels like a throwback to Harry Nilsson and Glen Campbell. I love that era of folk country music and this one felt like it fell right into that. This one came late. It was one of the last songs Steve and I wrote for the album.
Keep A Little Light On – I love this song but I can’t take any credit for it. Steve wrote this one before I met him. Steve is a professional songwriter by trade. There are songs that never get made and they end up on the song mountain. Which is a funny term. This one was hanging out. He would play it at times and I always loved this song. It’s so beautiful. I couldn’t believe nobody has done anything with it. It wasn’t finished so I had some ideas for the end. I can’t take any credit other than helping arrange it and put my own spin on it. I loved it and wanted to sing it. There’s been a couple of songs along the way I’ve taken (laughs) or claimed as my own. My first album Rest of London felt like an old Jimmy Webb song. I was like what is this? Why haven’t we done it? It happens sometimes. I love singing a good song. I don’t care if I wrote it or not.
Signs of Life- We’ve entered the psychedelic part of the record. It was one of the first songs I thought of sitting in my apartment during the pandemic just dreaming of getting out. Looking forward towards the future. It was a blique moment. I wondered is this it? It got weird in the beginning. This had a David Bowie vibe to it and we leaned into it. I grew up listening to Pink Floyd and all the psychedelic stuff. I love that genre of music. That feeling of space. Even Elton John’s Rocket Man. I’m a big fan of that. Prog rock. You know. I play keys. Steve plays guitar. There’s some weird synth stuff. We’d put it in, then take it out. It was an adventure.
My Own Worst Enemy- These three are Tyler ones. I made a mini album inside the big album. I didn’t mean to. It just worked like that. An album within album. Steve brought in the lyric. “Why do I always have to be my own worst enemy?” I was like there it is. I felt I could work with this. I brought in the “I can’t run away from myself.” I launched into that. I knew it needed to go somewhere melodically and I shifted the gear on the car to get there. This my ode to Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run. You have three complete songs in a way. There is an evolution in the song to the part where it breaks down on the piano. Then we have a full on jam at the end. That’s different for me. I’ve never done that on a record. I can’t wait to do it live because it has a great vibe. Tyler was so brilliant adding the organs and all the other different sounds.
I Gotta Go- (Laughs) There’s the line “I might be a schmuck but hey you know I ain’t no schmo.” We came up with that lyric and I was like it’s too Jewish. Tyler thought it was so fun. I said, Oh my god it’s so schticky. I was like no. I thought it was too much. He assured me, I promise it’s not. Sometimes, I’ll say something and wonder why did I say that? It was a joke. He was firm, nope it’s staying in. It’s fine. That’s another pandemic song. I was at the point of please get me out of here. That song came out of the monotony. This isn’t a pandemic record but dreaming of a better place. There was lots of contemplation going on. It definitely inspired lots of topics. Especially dreaming.
I Know a Lot of People – Heath Ledger said “I don’t have a lot of friends. I just know a lot of people.” We were trying to find a way to sing it. It was a good lyric, but dark. I changed it to how Willie Nelson would do it and I made it a country song. It could have gotten really dark. We were messing with some other more introspective things. I thought this lyric is so dark we need to do the opposite and it can almost seem comical. I really love the lyrics. It came out quick. Maybe took one day to write. We both wrote lyrics, so it was easy. That song wrote itself.
After the Party (2024)- Leslie Mendelson, Royal Potato Family, Steve McEwan, under exclusive license to Pasadena records
Cover photo – Mary Ellen Matthews