Winter ends Hazey Janes song-freeze
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IT seems as if The Hazey Janes’ trademark big melodies and heartbreaking harmonies are intact.
That’s just part of the good news.
But as the Dundee band’s third album previews with some live dates, fans will probably notice the music has also morphed into a wilder beast since debut album Hotel Radio came out what seems like a lifetime ago.
And the progression might have seemed more seamless if the world had got to hear their second album.
But it doesn’t look like anyone ever will.
"Every good band needs a shelved album, don’t they?" joked singer Andrew Mitchell.
He’s careful explaining why the band’s second album Hands Around The City has never been released.
But as much as anything, it’s because album three The Winter That Was is very much at the front of their minds.
It will be out on October 24 and second single from it Girl In The Night comes out this week.
Andrew explained: "The second album just didn’t receive the release we’d have liked. We could have re-recorded all the songs. But do you want to tour these songs that have become dated – or maybe write something better …
"We did release one single from it and we’ll probably play a couple of the songs in our set.
"But we had a great time in New Jersey and working with John Agnello (Sonic Youth, The Walkmen) and we were very proud of it."
The band went to Spain with Josh Rouse producer Paco Loco to make their debut album eight years ago, to America for the second.
But for album three, they stayed close to home.
"Those past experiences and working with some amazing producers and engineers before meant this time we wanted something different," said Andrew.
"We approached our friend Robin Sutherland to engineer and we decided to produce it ourselves.
"Robin had been creating a studio and that’s where we went to record – a little barn on the edge of Dundee.
"We’d asked him to do the sound for our live sets and he had known our sound and the songs for a while."
Without hearing the middle album, it seems as if the band have moved on a lot in the style of music you find on the songs of The Winter That Was. First single Carmelite is an enormous poppy rocker with Andrew’s vocals heading for the sky.
"Producing the album ourselves and having control made it feel very different from our past recordings," he said.
"By the time we’d finished, we’d gone through all the seasons out there."
And though Andrew described the barn as "comfortable" with no smell of farm animals, some unexpected wildlife did come calling.
"These Red Admiral butterflies started appearing – they were beautiful," he recalled.
"They’d suddenly catch your eye, then there would be another and another."
But the band themselves drew the attention of some sharp-eyed Dundee police while completing the album.
Andrew explained: "This shop called Vintage Strings in Dundee had let us go in at night to record a couple of the pianos at the same time for album track Southern Lawns.
"But a passing police car spotted us.
"I was trying to point out that the weight of a piano means I was hardly going to be running off down the street with a piano on my back!
"But we had to stop recording to put their minds at rest."
The four-piece – also including Liam Brennan and brother and sister Alice and Matthew Marra – is proud of the new album.
Andrew said: "What it represents is important to us.
"It’s the fact we have done everything ourselves and working with people like Robin and our label Armellodie.
"It feels as if we’re in a better position now than ever."
You can still download first single Carmelite free, with second single Girl In The Night out this week.
The Hazy Janes play Mad Hatters, Inverness, next thursday (Oct 20).
For more details, go to www.thehazeyjanes.com
