The jazz-juiced pop track features a richly saturated musical palette and marks the beginning of a new era for Alan Chang. “Love As A Weapon” is the first single to drop following Chang’s decision to go solo, after serving as musical director, co-writer and pianist to Michael Bublé for nearly two decades.
Like bathrooms and kitchens, careers sometimes need a refresh, even if they’re comfortable and functional. Especially if they’re comfortable and functional. And if a milestone anniversary happens to be looming, tearing up those floorboards seems even more urgent. Just ask Alan Chang.
For 19 years, the California-born Chang served as musical director and pianist to Michael Bublé, a gig that sent the lifelong musician around the world on sold-out tours, performing massive hits like “Home” and “Haven’t Met You Yet” that he co-wrote for the superstar Canuck crooner. Yet as 2019 wound down and Chang’s 40th birthday approached, he began pondering possibilities beyond the orbit he’d occupied nearly half his life.
Now, he is unveiling his latest single, the gently propulsive and arpeggio’d “Love As a Weapon.” Finding its lead piano grafted onto an atypically up-front rhythm section anchored by bass legend Pino Palladio and drummer Tamir Barzilay, the track draws its eccentric lyrical imagery from Chang’s departure from the Bublé camp. Read into it what you will. “I wrote that song a few days after I told Michael I was quitting,” Chang offers. “It was almost like a partner asking for a divorce. Suddenly, all these… different feelings came up. That song is a form of therapy.”
The creation of his new music saw Chang working alongside his fiancé Alex Lilly, a singer-songwriter in her own right, as well as with producers Ryan Lerman (Scary Pockets, Lizzy McAlpine, Buble, Ben Folds, John Legend) and Adam Greenholtz.
This new release marks the beginning of a new era for Alan Chang and it’s one you’re going to want to be a part of.
“When Alan left me after nearly two decades, I swore off half-asian men forever. But after hearing Alan’s seminal track off his new album, I realized that in life, you dim sum, you lose some. I can’t wait for people to hear his music!” – Michael Buble