HUE BLANES RELEASES NEW VIDEO ‘FERNANDO’ AND ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM ‘
Piano fiend and enigmatic genius singer-songwriter, Hue Blanes, PBS Young Elder of Jazz 2017 and 2017 Green Room multiple nominee, has today released his new single, Fernando and announced his sophomore record, Holiday – a darkly wonderful song cycle full of modern poetry – set for release on April 14. To support this stunningly beautiful work, Hue will play a strictly limited run of intimate shows across Ballarat, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Mullumbimby in April.
Hue’s sound sits somewhere outside of the usual genre boxes, yet somewhere in all of them; jazz, classical, artsong, pop, the album is a rare and musically sophisticated work, ahead of its time, yet deceptively simple – just Hue, sitting at his piano singing his stripped back melancholy. It is like Father John Misty, Jeff Buckley, Bach and David Foster Wallace all having an existential crisis in a room somewhere.
Speaking on the single, Fernando, Hue explains, “It’s about a troubled world famous soccer player and what I may have in common with him. I was wondering if hugely successful sports players suffered loneliness and anxiety and when I read a story about one of my favourite players – Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima from Brazil – having a setback before a crucial game in the World Cup, I decided to write about the story from my perspective.”
The song has been paired with a simple, poignant video clip. Disarmingly voyeuristic, we follow Hue as he walks apparently aimlessly around the lonely, dark and quiet streets of Brunswick. Filmed by Ben Stace ‘Cowboy’, the video was an immediate reaction to a botched attempt at another clip. “We had wanted to superimpose painting on top of a video shot in the studio of the finished take of Fernando,” Hue says, “It looked a little bit like The’ Mulligrubs’ or something out of the 80s and we weren’t feeling too good about it, so we got a camera and shot the clip in an hour, edited it the next day.”
Holiday is a stunning, bleakly comic song cycle featuring Hue’s virtuoso singing and piano, a story of loneliness, despair and the difficult search for meaning amongst the everyday tedium of being human, told in Hue’s trademark wryly moving style. With this work, Hue takes his place as the troubadour of the troubled, the singer of solitude.
Written over a two year period and heavily influenced by Hue’s troubled and anxious state of mind at the time, he explains, “The album was written while I was living with a schizophrenic golfing marijuana shaman who spent 8 hours a day shaking maracas on his knees whilst massaging himself and giving complex advice on posture and world politics to the other housemates and myself… Things needed to change. I wrote songs and got some new housemates. Meanwhile the shaman is living in a volcano in Nicaragua and having a great time and I’m releasing the album 3 years later and still in the same house.”
Available on vinyl, the LP will be accompanied by a booklet of original drawings by illustrator, Bernard Caleo who has interpreted the songs with scribbled drawings, with one drawing that perfectly sums up this desolate record – a man with an umbrella over his head with rain pouring out from inside the umbrella.
Hue has a host of fans near and far, with collaborator and artist, Bernard Caleo saying, “In this song cycle, Hue Blanes immerses you in a world of troubled dreamers, estranged lovers and ex soccer stars. The tunes ache with a sweet loneliness and the search for another, more bearable world.” Deborah Conway is also a supporter, saying, “Hue Blanes has a transcendent voice, perfect timing and an angelic touch on the piano, he’s a star.”
The intimate shows set for April are on sale now, offering an opportunity for those lucky enough to encounter one of Australia’s most startlingly original performers.
Fernando is out now. Holiday is set for a vinyl release on Melbourne’s Pound Records on April 14
HOLIDAY TOUR DATES
FRI 14 APR | MINERVA’S BOOKS & POT OF GOLD COLLECTABLES | BALLARAT
SAT 15 APR | THE JAZZLAB with special guest JOE O’CONNOR | BRUNSWICK
THUR 20 APR | VENUE 505 with special guest BRIAN CAMPEAU | SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY
FRI 21 APR | SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE with special guest ALICE COTTEE | CANBERRA
SAT 29 APR | DRILL HALL | MULLUMBIMBY NSW
HOLY HOLY ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE ‘ELEVATOR’ + REVEAL NEW ALBUM DATE & TITLE, AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW
Currently mid-national tour, Holy Holy have today revealed details of their sophomore LP alongside the announcement of their new single, Elevator (out today). Their anticipated new album will be titled Paint, and is set for release on February 24, 2017. The release comes at a busy time for the band, who have just embarked on a massive national tour which has already seen them play packed out shows in Adelaide, Bunbury, Perth and Fremantle, with upcoming shows set to hit a sold out Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Geeling, Ballarat, Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane in the coming weeks.
Buoyed by arpeggiated synths and the band’s classic driving guitar lines, a nostalgic yet contemporary feel and a chorus that will not leave your head, Elevator propels even further into exploratory territory. Vast and satisfying, with a clear, affecting narrative, Elevator is an exciting taste of Holy Holy’s enigmatic new album expected to drop in early 2017. Lead guitarist Oscar Dawson reflects on the writing process of the track, “I can’t recall how it germinated, but before we knew it we were playing this same two chords, over and over. And it built from there, like a conversation; starting softly, then bouncing around to become louder and louder… It had been caught on a phone when we were touring in Europe, and back in Australia we put it together and decided that, in fact, it is a song.”
It has been a remarkably eventful year for Holy Holy, who have been writing and recording their eagerly awaited new album featuring singles, Elevator and Darwinism in between wildly successful national and international tours. The band were hand-picked to record an intimate performance of Darwinism for the world renowned Mahogany Sessions in the UK, who have just announced their partnership with Distiller Music, with stunning results. They dropped into their Bath studios whilst on their recent European tour which saw them selling out their third London show, several shows in The Netherlands and playing packed showcases at Reeperbahn Festival in Germany.
If the critics are to be believed, now is the time to catch Holy Holy live. With Darwinism reaching the coveted #1 most played spot on Triple J, debut album When The Storms Would Come being nominated for Triffid Queensland Album of the Year 2015/16, Dawson being nominated for Guitarist of the Year at THE NATIONAL LIVE MUSIC AWARDS, the band making the Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition Longlist this year, not to mention Liam Gallagher addimg himself to their long list of supporters, they have become a band that is impossible to ignore.
In light of these achievements, lead vocalist Timothy Carroll is thrilled to be back touring in Aus, saying, “It’s great to be out on the road again – especially with a bunch of new tunes to try. We’re in the studio again in December so this a last chance to try some songs out before we get them carved in stone….or vinyl as the case may be.”
Paint is available to pre-order now. All album pre-orders will receive Darwinism and Elevator instantly.
HOLY HOLY ‘DARWINISM’ NATIONAL TOUR
Supported by I Know Leopard & Alex L’Estrange
Presented by Musicfeeds, Tiny Monster & Select Music
FRI 11 NOV | CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE VIC **SOLD OUT**
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 724 867
SAT 12 NOV | THE WORKERS CLUB, GEELONG VIC
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SUN 13 NOV | KAROVA LOUNGE, BALLARAT VIC
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
THU 17 NOV | CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE NSW
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 02 4968 3093
FRI 18 NOV | METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 132 849 | All Ticketek Outlets
SAT 19 NOV | UNI BAR – WOLLONGONG, WOLLONGONG NSW
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets
SUN 20 NOV | THE BASEMENT, CANBERRA ACT
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
THU 24 NOV | MIAMI MARKETTA, GOLD COAST QLD
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
FRI 25 NOV | SOLBAR, SUNSHINE COAST QLD
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SAT 26 NOV | THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE QLD
Tickets available from www.holyholymusic.com | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
*Dream Rimmy appearing in place of I Know Leopard
DYNAMIC SYDNEY BAND LAZY COLTS ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE & VIDEO FOR ‘TWENTY TWO’ + DEBUT ALBUM ‘TROJAN’ + EAST COAST TOUR
Cinematic alt-folk group, Lazy Colts have today announced the release of their brooding new single, Twenty Two, the second taste of their debut LP, Trojan, set for release on August 5. They’ll be hitting the road in August to celebrate the new LP, kicking off in Melbourne on August 6 and moving on to Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney then wrapping up in Katoomba on September 4.
Twenty Two is a reverent and reflective ode to youth and the naivety that dictates the relationships formed during that time. Emphasised by the pulse of young blood that dictates the arc of the song, the organic nature of the drums, piano and violin resonate under lead singer Lacey Cole’s effortless vocals. Acoustic and raw, Twenty Two encompasses country and folk influences to illicit a rich blend of sound that is lush and satisfying. Of the single, Cole remarks, “Essentially, Twenty Two is about the grand ‘undying’ sentiments that hallmark your first cracks at a serious relationship. It’s about perspective, initially, the lack of it, and then the revelation that the reason you’re in your situation – however great or bad it is – is also the reason you will get through it: you’re only 22 years old.”
Directed by Sarah Adamson (The Preatures, Gideon Benson, Matt Corby), the video clip for Twenty Two is a filmic representation of both the vulnerablilty and the joy of being young. Starring Sydney-based model Evelina Milward, the film seeks to balance the song’s morose male dialogue with a feminine depiction of happiness and beauty. The tone is both nostalgic and immediate; an authentic depiction of youth’s resilience and wonder. Speaking about the clip, director Sarah Adamson says, “I saw this great opportunity to lovingly poke fun at the sincerity of the song. I had this picture in my head of a girl listening to this love song some boy had written her but not really caring as much as he thought she would. She’s doing all these other funny and weird things a 22 year old girl might do when bored at home by herself. She is only 22. She knows there’s nothing to really worry about.”
Lazy Colts’ debut album, Trojan is a fine example of the state of Australian songwriting. Broad, triumphant, and satisfying, yet devastating, emotive and raw, the group have put a mirror to the human experience and Trojan is the result. Mixed by renowned engineer, Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire, Timber Timbre), the release has been two years in the making and calls upon a variety of influences including The National, Nick Cave and Bruce Springsteen. Recorded in part inside a local church, Cole reflects on the process, “I’m not sure the songs would sound the same if they were written and performed in a living room or garage. There is definitely a reverence or awareness of the space and the mood the empty church sets which lives on in the album…Trojan is set against grand backdrops of religion, myth, violence and politics, but the songs themselves are more personal, focusing on relationships and the fleeting moments between people.”
Lazy Colts will be hitting the road on a national tour in August to celebrate the release of Trojan. Giving fans a taste of what to expect from the shows, Cole enthuses, “Audiences can expect energy, passion, dynamic arrangements and musicianship. The rest of the band bring an element of sophistication and skill which strikes a nice balance with my more unhinged vibe. All in all, it’s a good time, it’s like rays of light through storm clouds.”
Lazy Colts is Lacey Cole, Michael Bridges, Sinj Clarke, Craig Collier and David Keys.
LAZY COLTS ‘TROJAN’ NATIONAL TOUR
SAT 6 AUG | WESLEY ANNE, NORTHCOTE | 18+
SUN 7 AUG | LABOUR IN VAIN, FITZROY | 18+
SAT 13 AUG | SANCHO’s DIRTY LAUNDRY, CANBERRA | 18+
SAT 20 AUG | THE BEARDED LADY, BRISBANE | 18+
SAT 27 AUG | FRANKS WILD YEARS, THIRROUL | ALL AGES
SUN 28 AUG | THE OXFORD CIRCUS, SYDNEY | 18+
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets
SUN 4 SEP | HOTEL BLUE, KATOOMBA | ALL AGES
Tickets available from www.stickytickets.com.au