Lee DeWyze talks about album debut

Lee DeWyze wants to be remembered as a storyteller.

That's why it was so important for him to get writing credits on 10 of the 11 songs on his big-label debut album “Live It Up.”

“It definitely means more to me when I can take part in the songwriting process,” DeWyze said. “I wanted these songs to have some depth to them.”

“Live It Up,” which comes out Tuesday from RCA, is breezy and up-tempo, much in the spirt of Jason Mraz or Rob Thomas.

But it's also full of those stories DeWyze holds so dear, including riffs on his success, jealousy and of course heartbreak.

“The songs on the album are like my children,” he said. “I feel like they capture my whole range of emotion.”

The reigning “American Idol” and Mount Prospect native said although the album was written quickly, in the midst of the “Idol” summer tour, he wouldn't change a thing about it.

“When I get going on something, I know what I want to say. I'm a very direct writer and I think this album captures that.”

Still the album wasn't without a few bumps in the road. A last-minute decision was made to switch the first single from the title track to the jauntier “Sweet Serendipity,” a decision DeWyze ultimately says he was happy with.

“It wasn't that I didn't think ‘Live It Up' wasn't a good song, I mean I think all the songs on the album are good. But we just thought ‘Sweet Serendipity' would make a better first single.”

He also says to expect a big change from his first two records, “So I'm Told” and “Slumberland,” both made in the days before his “American Idol” win and put out by Chicago indie label Wuli Records.

“They're very different to tell you the truth,” DeWyze said. “I made those other two records when I was working for a living, just trying to find time in between my jobs to make music. It was difficult.

“‘Live It Up' finds me in a completely different time and a completely different state.”

But that doesn't mean he's forgotten where he came from.

DeWyze acknowledged that Chicago and the suburbs will always play a role in his music.

“Chicago is where I grew up so of course you'll hear those ties in my music,” he said. “It will always be a special place for me.”

Indeed “Live It Up” is tinged with references to the city he grew up in. Songs like “Dear Isabelle” and “Me and My Jealousy” in particular evoke images of the city and the suburbs.

And the album's final track, “A Song About Love,” is a favorite of DeWyze's and one he admitted that he's worked on for a long time, maybe even as far back as when he was a struggling musician with dreams of making it big.

DeWyze also promised “Only Dreamin,'” the song he debuted at his homecoming show at Arlington Park in September, while not making the cut on the official album, will “find its way out there somehow.” (It's been confirmed that “Only Dreamin'” will appear as a bonus track on a deluxe version of “Live It Up.”)

While DeWyze says his home is in Los Angeles now, he still thinks about Mount Prospect and the Chicago area.

Although there are no current plans to come back to town for a show, DeWyze has a couple of Chicago venues in mind he'd like to play.

“Definitely the Aragon or the Riviera. I used to go to concerts there when I was growing up so it would mean a lot to me to play there.”

In the meantime DeWyze said he hopes listeners can hear just how much of himself he poured into “Live It Up.”

“Every song on that album means something to me,” DeWyze said, “and it's awesome that I got to play a part in writing so many of them.”