Boston Globe Review

[Aisling]

i hope no one's posted this one already. . .i didn't see it anywhere, but apologies if i'm mistaken.

McVie Gets Personal on New Solo Album

By Steve Morse, Globe Staff | September 10, 2004

When Christine McVie left Fleetwood Mac, she had no intention of making another album. "If I had, I would have stayed in Fleetwood Mac," she says.

The musical gods had other ideas -- and McVie got the songwriting bug. She hooked up with her nephew, Dan Perfect, and they crafted music in her studio in a converted barn next to her manor house in Kent, England. The upshot is a simple but brilliant pop album, "In the Meantime," released this week.

"The record was made under no pressure," McVie says from her home. "There were no people breathing down our necks and no road crew and no engineers and no managers. It was just Dan and I. He'd come back to the house and I'd cook him a bowl of pasta, then we'd go back in the studio and do a bit in the evening. I think that's why it sounds so relaxed."

It's the first solo album in nearly 20 years from McVie, known for singing such Fleetwood Mac hits as "Don't Stop," "You Make Loving Fun," "Over My Head," and "Songbird." She was part of the band's vocal triangle with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, and it's great to hear her singing again -- and with such a personal focus. The album deals with the rise and fall of a relationship.

"Yes, I would say this is the most autobiographical album that I've done so far," says McVie. "Normally I step into other people's shoes or into imaginary scenarios. These songs were written about somebody specific. . . . They're about a guy I was seeing, and it didn't pan out."

McVie's fluid pop songcraft is evident -- and there's a wonderful lack of pretension in the music. "I would hope it's innocent and quite naive in places," she says. There are no famous guests other than singer/guitarist Billy Burnette (who was in Fleetwood Mac in the late '80s and early '90s) and drummer Steve Ferrone of the Average White Band. "Mostly it's just me and my nephew," says McVie. "He went to the Academy of Art in London and he's a painter, but he also happens to be a great guitar player. . . . We got along very well and, frankly, we had a bloody good laugh most of the time."