Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals bring new tracks to South Florida in an intimate setting.

Ben Harper describes his new CD, Lifeline, as a complete 180 from his 2006 CD, Both Sides of the Gun.
 

That doesn’t mean the soulful rocker turned his sound inside out, but he couldn’t have taken a more different path in making the new CD.

Both Sides of the Gun was a solo album in the most literal sense. Harper wrote all of the songs and, because he was looking for a certain raw quality in the music, even expanded beyond his usual guitar to play drums and bass on many of the tracks. Although Harper’s band, the Innocent Criminals, appeared on some tracks, Both Sides of the Gun truly was Harper’s show, more than on any of his seven previous studio albums.
 

In a late August teleconference interview with reporters, Harper admitted that his approach to that album may have carried some consequences for Harper and his longtime group.

“I think the band may have been a little off-put by the fact that I did Gun pretty much on my own,” Harper said.
 

But any singed feelings should be way in the past now. It turns out that Both Sides of the Gun led to a closer musical and creative relationship than ever with the Innocent Criminals.
 

“I had to make Gun [myself] because it was sitting there waiting for me, and I knew I didn’t want any checks and balances in any part of the process,” Harper said. “In this case [with Lifeline], I mean, you could really say it’s the polar opposite.
 

“I saw how much stronger my band brought Both Sides of the Gun [in concert],” he said. “I wouldn’t change one note on [it], but the Innocent Criminals brought it to life live in a way that I think is as strong or stronger than on the record. It was through the experience of Both Sides of the Gun, oddly enough, that we grew together as a band. We weren’t ready to make Gun as a band. And it was Gun that brought us to be ready to make Lifeline.”
 

The process of doing the album began last fall, as the group embarked on nearly two months of touring through Europe, Harper came to the members of the Innocent Criminals — Oliver Charles (drums), Leon Mobley (percussion), Juan Nelson (bass), Michael Ward (guitar) and Jason Yates (keyboard) — and invited them to help write and record a new CD during the course of that tour.
 

Each day at sound check, Harper and the band convened to write, refine and rehearse new songs — a process that often continued afterwards in the group’s dressing room. It all led up to a recording session in Paris that saw Lifeline finished in the lightning-quick time span of one week.
 

In fact, Harper credited the Innocent Criminals with setting the musical tone for Lifeline. Where Both Sides of the Gun was edgy and had a gritty, rocking vibe (especially on the full-band disc that was coupled with an acoustic disc in the two-CD package), Lifeline is softer around the edges and has more of a classic, soulful feel.

“One would think coming right off the road and making a record right off of the road, that it would have been loud and aggressive and solos everywhere and that kind of thing,” Harper said. “But we sat down as a band, and again the music I was hearing from the band individually was of the soulful nature, sort of soul, blues. It just had a different feel to it. So we really had to tune in to where the band was at in the moment.”
 

Lifeline is already being touted as a modern-day, old-school classic — partly because the CD was recorded with analog tape instead of digitally with Pro Tools. That may be an accurate point, but what shines brightest are the grooving and soulful tracks that fill the CD.
Harper and the Innocent Criminals find a sunny soul vibe on “In The Colors” and “Say You Will,” offer some laconic country blues on “Fool For A Lonesome Train” and rock out with some Van Morrison-ish soul on “Put It On Me.”
 

Overall, Lifeline has a warm and organic sound, as Harper and the Innocent Criminals give the songs room to breathe with judicious instrumentation and uncluttered arrangements. The CD’s personality played a key role in Harper’s decision to play only moderate-size theaters on his initial American tour to support the CD — even though he could play larger venues in some of the markets.
 

“I wanted to bring Lifeline into the world in as intimate a setting as possible,” Harper said. “There’s not one word or note that’s a throwaway on this record, and I didn’t want one word or one note of it to get thrown away or lost in a live setting at all.”

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami. Tickets range from $40 to $50 and can be purchased through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 305-374-2444.