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Fagen Faces The Future On Third Solo Album
December 02, 2005, 4:15 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
BILLBOARD

Steely Dan principal Donald Fagen finds love in an airport security
line, mulls the ramifications of a ghostly feline, chats up the late
Ray Charles and ruminates on aging and death on "Morph the Cat," his
first solo album in 13 years. The nine-track set is due early next
year via Reprise.

Fagen is backed on the set by such familiar Steely Dan sidemen as
drummer Keith Carlock, guitarists Wayne Krantz, Jon Herington and
Hugh McCracken, clarinetist Lawrence Feldman, pianist Ted Baker and
saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, among others.

As usual, the album is highlighted by the unique blend of Fagen's
imaginative storytelling and the groove-oriented, backing vocal-laden
pop for which Steely Dan is renowned.

He woos an airport security screener on "Security Joan" ("Girl you
won't find my name on your list / Honey you know I ain't no
terrorist"), talks shop with Charles on "What I Do" ("He says, 'Don
don't despair -- just take some time / You find your bad self --
you're gonna do just fine'") and imagines a "thuggish cult" taking
over the U.S. government on "Mary Shut the Garden Door" ("So if you
ever see an automaton in a midprice luxury car / Better roll the
sidewalks up, switch on your lucky star").

"Morph the Cat" is the follow-up to 1993's "Kamakiriad," which
debuted at No. 10 on The Billboard 200. Plans are in the works to
release a boxed set featuring that set, "Morph the Cat" and Fagen's
1981 solo debut, "The Nightfly."


Here is the track list for "Morph the Cat":

"Morph the Cat"
"H Gang"
"What I Do"
"Brite Nitegown"
"The Great Pagoda of Funn"
"Security Joan"
"The Night Belongs To Mona"
"Mary Shut the Garden Door"
"Morph the Cat" (Reprise)