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Working for the fourth consecutive time with producer Ed Cherney, she tells JAM! Music that "Happy? got lost as far as we were concerned. Lost in America. It wasn't so much lost here (Canada). But when you sell a quarter of a million records and you've come from selling like two million, they really consider that a complete failure.
"I've never based anything I've done on what I sell," she adds. "Ed and I just felt like we wanted to redeem ourselves. It was basically as simple as that. We wanted to show ourselves that we could do the type of record that everyone had been anticipating after "Living Under June". I had a knee-jerk reaction and really wanted to make a record that was really introspective and so far from the (hit single) 'Insensitive' thing."
To that end, Arden describes "Blood Red Cherry" as more "contemporary." For the first time, the songwriter collaborated with her guitar player, Russell Broom, to construct loops and beats, and enlisted co-producer Mark Goldenberg, who had worked on a couple of her previous albums.
The loops that were used on the demos were brought into the studio and Arden had her band "wind its way in and out of those loops, so it's really textured," she explains.
"On the first track, 'Waiting In Canada,' we used real drum fills and cymbals and, other than that, it's just four or five or six different loops running together, but you'd never have a sense of that. It sounds really real. 'Cherry Popsicle' is loops. 'Sleepless,' which is the third track and the first single, is this bizarre bossa nova loop and then a real band. It is the neatest texture.
"It's a real hybrid of two worlds that really work together well."
Although the loop-heavy tracks might lend themselves well to a dance remix, Arden is pretty clear she doesn't want to go that route again. Several years ago, "Could I Be Your Girl?" was given several dance treatments, one of which was nominated for a Juno Award.
"There was a big kerfuffle because it was nominated for a Juno, and the Toronto urban dance community was pissed off," Arden says. "I think the dance community deserves to have their own entity, and I'm not a dance artist.
"You know what, I don't want to be all things to all people," she continues. "I think what makes me indigenous to myself is I do what I do. I don't apologize for it. I'm not always the hippest cat on the block, but I think I'm also building on something that's a solid foundation. I'll always do well just with my catalogue."
"Blood Red Cherry" also includes a song called "Mend," which features Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy on guest vocals. "You'd never ever know it's him," Arden says. "He's singing really low and really high. He just sings beautifully," Arden says. "I sent him a disc of it, and he's never said if he liked it or not. I'm hoping he did."
Meanwhile, Arden has lent her voice to a charity single, "Stand My Me", for a campaign benefiting an expansion at Toronto's North York General Hospital.
"We've done a pretty cool version of the song. I really strayed from the melody, which my mother was mad about. Traditionally, it's still 'Stand By Me,' but how many times can you hear 'Stand by Me' before you want to kill yourself?" says Arden, who was asked by the hospital to cover the Ben E. King classic.
"I think the song really does suit what they're doing. The poster is these teeny baby feet standing on big guys' feet."
Arden, who co-owns a diner, The Arden, in Calgary, with her younger brother, can also be seen these days on a portion of the Special K box. The shot was taken by Bryan Adams for his book, "Made In Canada", in aid of breast cancer research; a calendar of his shots is included with the purchase of the cereal, according to Arden's label, Universal Music Canada.
The singer is also pursuing acting, after an agent saw her at the Montreal Comedy Festival. She recently returned form numerous meetings in Hollywood with NBC, CBS, USA Network, Imagine Entertainment and Artists Management Group, the company run by former super-agent Michael Ovitz.
"If they need someone to bring out a bowl of gruel to the 'Friends' kid, I'm your girl," she jokes.
Arden, who has done "This Hour Has Minutes" and the Royal Canadian Air Farce in Canada, says she isn't necessarily after comedic roles. "I'll know it when I see it. I'm obviously not in a position of desperation. I'd just like to look at some scripts and work with a good director. I won't just do anything, and they're quite aware of that."
So who would be her ideal leading man?
"Nick Nolte. That's who I'd like to play opposite. He's almost creepy now. But there's something about him that I love.
"And you're going to laugh, but William Shatner. I'm deathly serious about that. He gave me butterflies when I was 10 years old."