Please be patient--I'm Balancing My Mind--Hazey Janes-Winter That Was

I'm sitting here listening to the most recent release from 2011 by The Hazey Janes, an extremely talented quartet from Dundee Scotland. I'm liking this one a lot--it's a big, lush, undertaking, sounding in some ways indebted to the past, but also managing to carve out their own distinct territory. The title of this new one, The Winter That Was is their third--and it seems like they put it out themselves, not as uncommon occurrence these days. It is licensed through Armellodie Records. It certainly does not sound like a DIY album by a long shot.

If you have a familiarity with the band you may know that their second album from 2008 was never released. Apparently there was some issues between the band and the label. Hands Across the City never made it out of the box. On June 2, in Dundee, they'll be performing the album live. Probably would be a good gig for the hometown crowd to catch. HATC was a corker I bet. This song below would have been on it, so you be the judge. Not too shabby....My jaw dropped when I heard this for the first time.






The Winter That Was is a strong unqualified success considering the major setback, moving outward from the great vocal harmony skills of the Marras, Matthew and Alice. Andrew Mitchell and Liam Brennan round out the quartet. The songs veer from Country, lush chamber pop, to Big Star/Teenage Fanclub pop riffing, synthpop, The Delgados, even shoegaze. The Darkness Ends is one of those songs that you think they must be doing a cover of some great classic country song, but they made it up all by themselves.


At times the music is pretty loud and brash like in the final tune Everything Starts Again. Definitely hearing a Cars influence with the new wavey synths. I wouldn't think the synths would work here, but I find everything here pretty agreeable. Wake to Guide Love is one of may favorites on the album, a huge melodic pop tune. Contrast this with the Byrdsy bliss of Girl In the Night. The title of the album may be Winter that was, but that's just one of many songs I can hear blasting out of a car stereo on a sunny summer day. Truly these guys need more attention paid to them. They are so talented that you have to want to root for these musicians.

Most recently, I see they are the backing group on Michael Marra's new album, Houseroom. I don't know much about him, but he is supposed to be a pretty talented songwriter. I also think two of the Hazeys happen to be his children. I don't have Houseroom so I can't really give an opinion on the album's merits. But Hazey Janes are definitely a band worth investigating. Great arrangements and utterly fantastic singing. These guys oughta be big time. You can't go wrong here, believe me.