Serena Ryder, shown here performing at the 2013 Juno Awards in Regina, will be back in the Queen City on June 25 at the Conexus Arts Centre. CARAS photo / iPhoto

Canadian songstress Serena Ryder just released her sixth album, Utopia, a fresh and funky follow-up to her gold-selling, Juno-winning release, Harmony. Punchy new songs like Got Your Number and Electric Love reflect her rekindled passion for rhythm, she tells Postmedias Lynn Saxberg, while a quick recording job meant she never lost sight of the groove. Heres more from the interview with Ryder, who performs at the Conexus Arts Centre on June 25.

Q: Its been five years since your last record. Whats been happening?

A: Well, it was five years but I toured it for three years so really its only been two years for me. And then just a lot of writing. I was living in L.A. for a couple of years, and writing so much. I just started doing it for fun because I love it. I wanted to write for other people, try other things. I was not even thinking about a record because I just finished my album cycle. It was super cool, way less pressure. Not like, This song is going to be on the radio, it has to mean something for you and you have to sing it over and over again.

Q: But then you ended up keeping the songs for yourself anyway?

A: I fell in love with a lot of the songs I was writing because they were from a personal place. I always write from a very personal spot. And I started playing the drums and writing songs on the drums in my apartment. I wrote almost 100 songs.

Q: Plus you did some touring. Were you road-testing songs?

A: I went to the U.K. and worked with a few people there, and did some writing and touring in Australia. But the songs didnt change. Whats been happening with me is Ill write a song and record it in the same day, in, like, a few hours, and thats what goes on the record.

Q: Wow, thats different.

A: Its so different now from what it used to be like for me, when youd write a song and then hire a studio band to go in and get a bunch of different takes of it. For me, the energy of right when youre finished writing is so exciting and to be able to record it, its like being in the moment. It used to be such a long waiting process. It was almost like the life in it was gone for me because it was so processed.

Q: That must be why the music feels so fresh and immediate.

A: I think so. We didnt go over and over and over with the different versions.

Q: The songs also have a lot of rhythm, and you mentioned writing on drums. Is that new for you?

A: Yeah, all the rest of my stuff has been based on guitar parts. Ive dabbled on the drums for a while. I wouldnt say Im a drummer but the rhythm is what makes me excited to write a song so a lot of the sessions would start with a beat, and a rhythmic kind of vibe. When I get excited about the beat, thats when I start playing melodies and guitar parts. I love that pulse that moves. Its the music of your body.

Q: Whats the significance of the title, Utopia?

A: I like to create my future by coming up with mantras for myself. What do I want to repeat to myself? The last record was Harmony, and that was about finding balance in everything. My new record is about finding my dream. Whats my fantasy? What reality do I want to create?

Q: And? Whats your definition of utopia?

A: Right now (on a warm, summery day in downtown Ottawa), mine would definitely be a cottage with an amazing dock, warm water, an ice-cold beer and a bunch of books and magazines and board games.

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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Serena Ryder has moved on from Harmony to Utopia with new album - Regina Leader-Post