Venus Hum - The Colors In The Wheel
Venus Hum celebrated the release of their third full length album with a show Friday nite at the Mercy Lounge here in Nashville. For a band where two-thirds of the members are trapped behind banks of synthesizers, computers, and other miscellaneous electronic gadgetry, I'm always amazed at how good their shows are. Part of that is due to making up for their lack of ability to move with an always impressive visual display, although the eye candy Friday nite seemed on a smaller scale than their previous shows (probably due to the smaller stage). But most of the credit for how enjoyable their shows are can be given to singer Annette Strean. She's charming and captivating and has a voice that even angels would kill for.
Their new album has been billed as more organic, but that's really a relative term. You'd be hard-pressed to find a review that doesn't mention how the lead track "Turn Me Around" was built solely upon acoustic guitar (you can watch a video of Tony Miracle demonstrating that process on youtube). They may have used real instruments instead of synthesizers for their source sounds, but by the time Miracle and Kip Kubin finished twiddling knobs, most listeners wouldn't know it. This approach does give the album a warmer sound though, and the emphasis on strong songwriting that helped them appeal to more than just electronic music fans in still here. Strean seems to be have tempered some of the Bjork-isms that were evident in her past vocals, at times sounds like The Sunday's Harriette Wheeler fronting an electro-pop band. Her lyrics aren't as relentlessly upbeat as they have been in the past, but they never approach anything close to being a downer. The songs cover a lot more stylistic range this time out, ranging from the funky pop of "Pink Champagne" (which I swear could be a Sign O' The Times era Prince track) to the percolating electronic lullaby "Go To Sleep." That range may turn off some of their more narrow focused dance music fans, but for the rest of us, it makes for a great forty-five minute trip.
Venus Hum - "Yes And No" (mp3)
You can listen to the entire album, and also see a live video of "Pink Champagne," here (site requires that you have Flash 9 installed).
This one is actually from their second album, Big Beautiful Sky, but I'm linking to it anyway because it's my favorite song of theirs. The fact thats it's about my second home has a lot to do with that (I've spent more time in the Big Sky State than anyplace I haven't actually lived).
Venus Hum - "Montana" (mp3)
post title by G.T.O's
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