PRISCILLA AHN

Growth emerges as the central theme of Priscilla Ahn’s album When You Grow Up, a stunning 12-song set produced by Ethan Johns that exhibits Ahn’s profound growth as an artist and a songwriter. Ahn wrote or co-wrote all but one of the album’s songs, threading a loose storyline through life’s ups and downs, her angelic voice narrating the experiences through which we grow.

In a way, it was mischievous for Ahn to name her album When You Grow Up. After all, nobody stops growing until the day they exit this mortal coil. We find and lose love, meet new friends, visit different places, and add to our skill sets. Our emotions become more complex. We establish patterns, then break them for a much-needed change of pace. That's why the sophomore full-length from the California singer-songwriter resonates so powerfully: She funneled these phases and stages of life into the genesis of When You Grow Up, even as she reflected upon them in her inimitable style.

"The other day I was reading some old blogs of mine, from five or six years ago," Ahn divulges. The young woman in that prose was almost unrecognizable. Back then, she was still discovering her voice as an artist, struggling to articulate emotions, even as basic necessities—like food and shelter—were often up-in-the-air. "My life was so different compared to how it is now." But good things emerged from that turbulence. She fashioned the songs featured on her 2008 debut A Good Day, including the sleeper hit "Dream," which found its way into several films and TV shows. There were tours with heavyweight colleagues: Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Willie Nelson. She met her fiancée, and after several years of courtship, they married in 2010. The chaos reflected in those long-ago blogs had subsided. "There's definitely a peace to life these days that I've never really known before."

There is a persistent myth that when an artist is content and settled, the muse goes into hiding. At first, Priscilla wrestled with this age-old canard. "Writing before seemed so much easier, in a way. These days I process my feelings so much better, through thinking about them or journaling or meditation. I was worried there was nothing left to write songs about!" In fact, what she learned was how to dig deeper in her music, uncovering epiphanies from smaller, quieter moments. "These songs happened in a period of my life where I re-discovered, or discovered for the first time, different parts of who I am."

She also broke out of her established pattern of self-reliance, and wrote with other musicians: Sia Furler, Inara George, Eleni Mandell, Charlie Wadhams. The lone cover on the album is the frolicsome love call “Vibe So Hot,” which was written by Benji Hughes. Although there were opportunities to work with well-known veterans, the process came most naturally when it didn't stray far outside her immediate social orbit. It was George—the voice of the bird and the bee, and co-author of the twinkling "City Lights (Pretty Lights)"—who pointed her towards their fellow Los Angeles denizen Mandell. In turn, that pair concocted the standout "Oo La La." Much like that jazzy collaboration, in which the narrator allows little deviations in a daily routine to open the door to adventure, these creative alliances helped Ahn unlock a more mature, sophisticated approach to her craft.

The next step was translating the fledgling songs into demos. Although she plays myriad instruments on the album, including electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, autoharp, piano, organ, and a wide variety of keyboards, Ahn's home studio is a very modest affair. So she used her own voice to emulate different instrumental colors and parts, layering harmonies. Many of these ideas carried over into the final record, yielding beautifully layered vocal parts that evoke the intricate, multi-tracked arrangements of the Beach Boys and Kirsty MacColl.

In pursuit of the right producer to help bring this material to full fruition, Ahn went on what she jokingly refers to as a series of "blind dates." All of the candidates she met displayed admirable strengths and impressive credentials, but nobody clicked. Meanwhile, the perfect choice was already in her sphere: Ethan Johns had previously produced three albums for her tour mate Ray LaMontagne. Even though they'd never met, when Johns was approached about the opportunity, the acclaimed producer and multi-instrumentalist disclosed he was already a fan, smitten after seeing Ahn sing and play ukulele on Jools Holland's UK television program.

Working with Johns brought Ahn back to England, where they hunkered down at studios in Bath and London. Initially the singer was nervous about making an album so far from the familiar surroundings, musicians, and distractions of home, but her reluctance dissipated as the project gained momentum. "Recording in England was possibly the best thing I could've done for the record, because I was super-focused, and we were constantly working."

While When You Grow Up took shape, so did their working relationship. "If I said, 'Oh I'm not sure about this or that,' Ethan was like, 'Okay.' He had absolutely no ego, which is very rare." He paid just as much attention to each and every performance. "Ethan has such a great ear for placement, making the focus be the words and the voice. I trusted that he was listening." As additional players joined the two in the studio, the process continued in an organic fashion (including recording to tape). "It was totally old school. We would do live takes with the band, all day, and sometimes into the next. Then we'd all sit in the studio and listen back until we found the one with just the right vibe."

The final touches came about just as naturally. Tempting as it may be to label When You Grow Up a concept album, it isn't. The album title came to Ahn one night after dinner with Ethan's father, industry legend Glyn Johns, long after all the songs were written. Likewise, the loose story arc that begins with childhood, progresses through cycles of romance and heartbreak, and concludes with the wise, reflective "Torch Song," only emerged after settling on that title. That might seem a bit backwards, but it's the nature of life—and the creative process. We never truly know what has transpired until we have time to look back and reflect. All of us, especially artists, are always in flux, ever changing. Judging from When You Grow Up, listeners can expect even bigger and better things from Priscilla Ahn over time.