Singer-songwriter McMahon’s solo career soaring to new heights

The third time is proving to be the charm for indie singer-songwriter Andrew McMahon.

With each phase of his music career — as the lead singer of the band Something Corporate, then as the head of the solo projects Jack’s Mannequin and now Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness — the artist’s acclaim has grown exponentially with both critics and fans.

McMahon, 34, said that he’s at a time in his life when he’s ready for a higher profile in music and, by extension, the world.

“I am more ready for it now than ever — this marker of success,” he said in a phone call. “While I was forming Jack’s Mannequin, I don’t know if I would have been in a position to receive it in a healthy way.”

McMahon was spending the day in Santa Monica, Calif., not far from his home, with his wife and daughter before flying to Osaka, Japan, to promote his newest album, “Zombies on Broadway.”

McMahon will perform two acoustic shows Saturday at Blue Note Hawaii. He has been touring with a full band, but between larger stops he is peppering in some more intimate shows, such as the ones here. McMahon has been playing piano since he was 9 years old, and that’s what he’ll play here, with Zac Clark backing him on keyboard and vocals.

Expect new work from “Zombies on Broadway,” which was released Feb. 10, plus some songs from his previous solo effort, “Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness” (2014), and elsewhere from his career.

“Zombies on Broadway” is named for the “area in and around the studio that I recorded it in,” McMahon said. “I’d go through Times Square, which is like the selfie capital of the world, and I would have to push my way through there to get to the studio.”

“Zombies on Broadway” was recorded in the same city where McMahon was diagnosed in 2005 in the early stages of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. McMahon was on tour when he found out that he had cancer.

He was living the high life back then in the band Jack’s Mannequin, with the indulgences that young people on their first U.S. headlining concert tour might be surrounded by and, in his case, didn’t necessarily turn down. Unlike other 20-somethings, though, McMahon was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease at age 22.

McMahon went through two rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment during 2005 before his sister Katie proved to be a successful bone marrow donor match.

While the disease gravely influenced McMahon’s life at the time, it did not curb the way he was living. In fact, McMahon pushed to live his life harder and faster. He eventually came around with a grateful outlook on life and an optimism that was matched in his lyrics. That time period was partly captured on the album “The Glass Passenger,” which was released in 2008 by Jack’s Mannequin.

Much of McMahon’s solo work on “Zombies on Broadway” continues along the path of lighter, hopeful lyrics laid upon a darker beat.

“I find that successful music weaves together the dark and the light,” said McMahon, who has been in remission for 12 years. “But when I was in recovery, you can get a little tentative in writing music when you’re enduring such a situation.”

McMahon founded the nonprofit Dear Jack Foundation in 2006. The foundation focuses on raising funds and support for adolescents and adults ages 15 to 39 who are living with cancer. Cancer such as McMahon’s is the most common form found among children.

This year the Dear Jack Foundation is hosting the Raise Your Voice $100K Challenge. The organization had already surpassed its goal of raising $100,000 by Sept. 27 through donations for some of its programs. It’s the second year in a row that the foundation has held the event, which runs through Nov. 11.

MUCH OF McMahon’s lyrics are autobiographical in nature and serve as a window to what is going on his life, such as with arguably his biggest hit, “Cecelia and the Satellite,” from the album “Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness.” The song, which became a commercial hit on multiple charts including the Billboard Hot 100, was written in the months before his daughter was born. The gentle, introspective lyrics are dedicated to protecting and caring for her.

“People say that their songs are like your children — they’re all your favorites,” McMahon said. “But ‘Cecelia and the Satellite’ is one of my favorite moments because of the subject matter. It has a lot of truth in it, as it’s for my daughter, and it resonates with a lot of people.

“The best stuff comes from cataloging little moments in the day when I am sitting at my piano, and the words just interact with the music. The words feel unique, and then I take it from the piano to the studio. So much of my life is in my lyrics.”

LIFE IS GOOD all around these days for McMahon. Just as how 2014 was a big year with the birth of his first child and the release of his first solo album under the moniker Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, 2017 has also been a very good year to McMahon with the release of “Zombies on Broadway” and the single “Fire Escape.” The single, which was written after a round of late nights in New York, was penned in the same thoughtful style as “Cecilia and the Satellite.” It has become another hit for McMahon.

“It’s not that I was surrounded by bad people before, but I didn’t have my eye on everything,” McMahon said. “Now I am just focused on the important relationships, (as with) my wife and family. The level of tension has dissipated in my life. There was a certain tentativeness with my first solo record. I’m learning to trust people again. After Jack’s Mannequin I let a lot of relationships dissolve. Now I am focused on my mornings and what I get out of life.

‘There’s definitely a lot more trust, and I am taking charge of the sound and driving out different sounds.”

With each turn of his career, McMahon’s music has given way from the alternative rock sound of his youth in the SoCal band Something Corporate to the more thoughtful lyrics delivered by a solo artist in his prime. There’s also the occasional surprise that can be found in the dancing lilt of a song such as “So Close,” from “Zombies on Broadway.”

“It doesn’t feel like the change has been intentional,” McMahon said. “I just feel myself changing.”

Visit Andrew McMahon’s nonprofit organization for young adults and adolescents with cancer at dearjackfoundation.org.