Steven Page on his new album and weaving politics into music

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Steven Page’s new album is Discipline: Heal Thyself, Pt. II, a sequel to 2016’s Heal Thyself Pt. I: Instinct. The former Barenaked Ladies member’s sixth solo record, it’s a lively affair of pop, cabaret-ready rock and Stax-styled soul, made with Page’s typical devotion to headphone-worthy sound. “I like the right and left stuff,” he says, referring to high-fidelity stereo.

Funny he should bring that up, the right and the left stuff, because the album is not without its politics. “Throw away the Bill of Rights,” Page sings on the single White Noise, “for anyone who isn’t white."

It’s All Been Done: Steven Page after the Barenaked Ladies

The 48-year-old singer-songwriter is an NDP enthusiast who spends most of his time in upstate New York. He wrote the song in the wake of last year’s white nationalist turmoil in Charlottesville, Va., and in the agitating spirit of Billy Bragg, one of his heroes. Page spoke to The Globe and Mail in Toronto recently about politics and giving the audiences what they want to hear – and sometimes what they don’t.

Listening to the new record, it occurs to me that you have a way with a pop song.

I like the form, yes.

The last song on your previous album was No Song Left to Save Me. Where are you at now, creatively?

That song goes with the theme of that record, which was about pushing through when you have the impulse to pack it in. My own inner voice tells me to keep going.

This is something you wrestle with, right? You wrote It’s All Been Done in the nineties.

Yes. How many times can you say or explore the same things or use the same chord forms, and so on. But sometimes you stumble on something worth looking for.

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Your lyrics sometimes refer to personal issues and difficulties you’ve had. Do you ever think about maybe pulling back and not giving so much of yourself up to the song?

I do. A song like Where Do I Stand? on the new album is about that – whether it’s about politics or value systems, and how much do you give away. Or it could just be about your own internal voice, and the line between navel-gazing and self-indulgence, which we have the luxury to do as artists. Sometimes we do it on behalf of our audience, as well. The best thing you can do to be honest is to be honest about yourself.

You reunited with Barenaked Ladies at this year’s Junos, with the band’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Tell me about the experience.

It was absolutely pleasant. It was nice to catch up, and the response has been wonderful.

The fans want the family back together.

I’m sure they do. But how often does that happen, that a mom and dad get back together 10 years later?

You spend most of your time in New York State. For this trip to Toronto, how does it feel to leave Trump’s America for Ford’s Ontario?

You know, we as Canadians have this superiority complex with the United States. We feel we’re better informed and more reasonable and more humane and better educated – all these myths about the Canadian experience. Toronto acts like it’s not culpable. “We didn’t elect Doug Ford. That was the rest of Ontario.” But a good number of Torontonians voted for Conservatives. And this same city elected Rob Ford before that. So, they knew what they were getting into. They looked at the United States and said, “I want a Trump.” Well, now you got one.

You’ve always been open about your own politics, but how often does that seep into your music?

With Barenaked Ladies, we were always politically involved. The albums Everything to Everyone and Barenaked Ladies Are Me – there were lots of political songs in there. The thing that is new to me is the fist-raising chant. In the past, I would be analytical and observational, with a wink or a sneer.

Could your new single White Noise have been on a Barenaked Ladies album?

It’s hard to say. Any song you write in the democracy of a band, you never know how they’d respond to it. Politically, everybody in that band would be on side with me with White Noise. I actually got a really nice note from [Barenaked ladies drummer Tyler Stewart], giving me a thumbs-up for the song.

Sure, but it would be a little off brand for BNL, no?

I get where you’re going. It wouldn’t have been a single, I’ll tell you that. And my sense with that band now, as a quartet, they wouldn’t do something like White Noise.

What about your fans? Do they push back on any political stuff from you?

Yes. The “shut up and sing” crowd. But I compare that to people demanding menu changes or substitutions in restaurants. It’s kind of, if you like Steven Page, then you get what you get.