>Chris Isaak

A LOVE LETTER IN THE WIND

Getting dumped just doesn't fit Isaak's gilded image. After all, his handsome mug has graced the big screen (Little Buddha, The Silence of the Lambs), and his bewitching "Wicked Game," from the 1990 movie Wild at Heart, was a Top 10 hit. Still, he suffered a tough breakup 18 months ago and felt he'd be Forever Blue. The album is his catharsis. "The strongest emotion people have," he says, "is when they miss someone."

Why did you include the unmailed letter to your ex in the CD?

It seemed pretty natural because I never sent it. In fact these songs are like letters that were never sent. Rather than call my ex on the road, I'd write what was in my head, but I just never got the stamp on it. There are a lot of letters like that in my house.

Were you secretly hoping that she might respond?

No, I'm talking to the wind. I don't think she even listens to my music. It would take a lot more than an album to get us back together. Life tore us apart.

Is it hard to meet suitable women?

I can get women. But when you're talking about love, there's one particular one. That's the difference between love and Friday night.

So how's your love life these days?

Well, the breakup was a fresh wound, so I'm taking it easy now. I'd still like to write some songs about that feeling you have when you first fall in love. But if it means I have to be miserable to write, then I would do something else for a living. I'm not a big believer in suffering more than I have to.