Greg Laswell
Where: DC9, 1940 Ninth St. NW
When: Doors at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m.
Info: $12; 202-483-5000; dcnine.com.
On his forthcoming album, Greg Laswell is angry. OK, not smash-in-the-wall, scream-his-lungs-out enraged. But on “Take a Bow,” which is due out in May, the singer-songwriter explores more than the heartache that has become a staple of his work.
“There’s a few songs that are little more angry,” Laswell, 35, said, during a recent phone interview from Brooklyn. He also added there are happy moments on the new album as well. “That’s a departure. The pendulum definitely swung.”
“It was a lot easier,” he added. “It was a lot of fun.”
Not that those who have enjoyed his earlier work will feel left out. Fans of “Good Movie,” “Through Toledo” and “Three Flights From Alto Nido” should find “Take a Bow” easy to enjoy.
“I think they’ll be able to pick up where they left off,” said Laswell, who will give listeners a first-hand sample of songs new and old when he performs at DC9 on Saturday.
Laswell tours a lot, and played DC9 less than a year ago. He estimates he spent nine months on the road last year. It was during those rare breaks that he wrote, recorded and produced “Take a Bow.”
In October, Laswell released an EP of covers. The five-song effort stemmed from the reception he got from a haunting version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” that he put out in early 2009.
“It’s like an exercise on my part as a producer,” Laswell said, adding he may put out additional cover EPs in between albums of original work. “It makes me better, to find my voice on something else I didn’t write. I thought it might be fun.”
Laswell recently moved to Brooklyn from Los Angeles, and lived in San Diego before that. Making the transition from Southern California to the City that Never Sleeps was something he had always wanted to try.
“I fell in love with it,” he said, adding he moved just in time for the recent series of snow storms. “It was always on my life’s to-do list. I went for it.”
If you aren’t familiar with Laswell, there’s a chance you’ve heard his music. His songs has been featured on television shows “Grey’s Anatomy” and “True Blood,” among others
“It’s kind of turned into new radio, an alternative to radio,” Laswell said. “I get exposure on a lot of level. I’ve been very lucky.”
