Mon. Nov. 24 and Tues. Nov. 25

 Amanda Palmer’s first solo album is called “Who Killed Amanda Palmer.” The liner notes on the back of the CD say, “If you see Amanda Palmer on the street, kill her. That way she’ll live forever.” It’s said to be graffiti written somewhere in Boston. Now, the (on leave) Dresden Dolls singer-pianist, has dealt with the dark side before – also the darkly comic – and it would seem here she’s pushing that envelope, even more to the extreme. Asked about that fake graffiti, on the phone from Europe, Palmer says, “If I am [killed], you’ll find out before I do.” (Which is sort of true.) As to the fake graffiti: “It may have already happened” for real. To backtrack a bit, Palmer who wraps up a two-night stand at the Paradise Tuesday Nov. 25, has created this alter ego Palmer, that is referred to on the liner notes, written by Neil Gaiman, on her website and in a coffee table book is coming soon.
     How did this come about? Who’s this other Amanda? “She is a product of Neil Gaiman’s imagination,” says the real Palmer. “He is a fabulous writer, known for phantasastical novels, a creator of worlds. It was a perfect match to have him pen the text for this and the companion book.” The book, she says, was going to be “a collection of dead Amanda Palmers with no accompanying story.” But she had “a lucky meeting” with Gaimon and the two came up with the concept. In the liner notes, it would seem Amanda Palmer is a star who died in the mid-1960s.
     “It’s a fictional character, from both of us,” Palmer says, “although you can’t say it’s a fictional character, as much as a metaphysical character. The idea there are a lot of Amanda Palmers who died in different ways. There’s a deeper puzzle. It’s a tease for the book.”
     If you’re thinking “Palmer,” “dead girl,” and “didn’t this happen once before? The answer is yes. David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks.” Laura Palmer was the dead girl. “People used to joke about Laura Palmer when they heard my name,” says Amanda. “That’s how the whole thing started. It led down a twisty path of more coincidences.”
     And the music, yes, there’s music too! It is a CD. Palmer struck up a mutual admiration society/friendship with fellow pianist-singer Ben Folds. She ended up in his Nashville studio to record, what she thought would be a simple piano and voice album. The focus, however, changed. “It grew pretty organically,” says Palmer. “The original idea was planted in my brain years ago, when I started thinking about doing a solo album with piano. Basically, I had a pile of ballads that were drum-less and weren’t fitting on a Dresden Dolls record. Those were in a stockpile that was getting taller. The band  - [it’s her and drummer Brian Viglione] needs a break anyway, Brian and I are driving each other crazy anyway. This CD was a good time to take a break. I really was gonna knock it off in Boston, laying them down, four or five takes, do it in week. Then Ben Folds [came in], we got together in Australia for a drink when we crossed paths on tour, and he offered up his Nashville studio as a place to do it. I’d have to put a team together.”
     Palmer, a Goth girl heroine to some, has much more than that going on. Yes, she has a dark sensibility, a worldview that is part wounded/part striking-out, a sense of anger and compassion. She wrestles with wanting to be alone and wanting to connect. She loves dramatic music from the glam era; she was raised on the MTV video new wave of the ‘80s. Grace and danger intersect frequently. On “Who Killed Amanda Palmer,” she goes every which way – spare, lush, frenetic, calm. “Ampersand” is beautiful and damaged; “The Point of it All” is pure heartbreak. She borrows the sad line “It’s so cold in Alaska” from Lou Reed’s “Berlin” in “Blake Says.” (It’s a great, if semi-obscure, reference point for fans.) “WKAP” a wild ride of art-rock, and as much as her piano and voice are front and center, strings and other instruments involved, making this a deeply involving, complex album. Check out the videos on www.whokilledamandapalmer.com  
     Back to Amanda and Ben: “He said ‘Are you looking for a producer and engineer? I’ll do it.’ Are you kidding? It was one of those wonderful confluence of timing. He was excited by the Dresden Dolls records he had heard, and I was floating aimlessly and we collided at just the right time.”
    Of the songwriting and collaboration, she says, “Certainly for me, I really submitted a lot to the process and went to Nashville saying anything was possible and let Ben take the lead. But I was inspired by out of the box with how he was willing to take the songs. I had toyed with the idea of putting strings on some – a song like ‘Have to the Drive.’ I had always heard that with orchestra – cinematic strings - and realized that could become a reality through Ben and the people he knew. I thought I’m going to take this as far as my imagination can go and make it happen. It’s a wonderful chicken-and- egg situation; we inspired each other to take things one step further.” (Their arranger Paul Buckminster had worked with Folds before and also this chap named Elton John.)
    Palmer says the record company that releases Dresden Dolls records, Roadrunner, wasn’t interested, “So I was taking money out of my pocket and placing it on the altar of faith. This is gonna break my bank, but even if I don’t get paid back it’s worth it. One of the things to bear in mind is a lot of songs would have been Dresden Dolls songs had they not landed on the solo album. That was a function of timing. As with the Dolls, we thought ‘What’s gonna serve the song? Make the song sound best?  What does the song need? How can we find that?’ I am not dissatisfied with a single second of this. I think the album is effing genius and I’m not afraid to say so. It’s not for the  faint-of-heart or the pro-of-life.”
    Now, what will Boston gets on stage when Palmer returns to the Paradise Nov. 24 and 25?
    “Same tour we’re on now,” she says. “Quite a production. Me and cellist, Zoe Keating, a talented violin player Lyndon Chester, and we’re also bringing in an insanely impossible-to-describe physical theater troupe of four people from Brisbane, Australia, who I’ve collaborated with over the past four years, the Danger Ensemble. They’re creating a combination of live theater and music videos on the side, to accompany my set. It’s really wonderful, the next logical next step.”
    Might they, um, take over the show? Not even a question,” says Palmer.” If there were any danger of that I wouldn’t do it, I’ve far too egocentric to put somebody on stage that would upstage the music. It enhances it. A lot like a video. I really am a product of the early ‘80s MTV generation – I was exposed to music visually. That’s how it germinated. I saw music and saw that using visuals can be so emotionally impactful, but it’s gotta be art, not just eye candy. There’s a difference between having hot backup dancers and unrelated set pieces and actually drawing meaning out of the songs. The goal is to do nothing superfluous, nothing for just entertainment or shock value, but to make people feel and think.” Violinist Keating opens, followed by the Builders and the Butchers. Doors at 7. Tickets: $25.

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