Hue Blanes' Holiday

It takes around 29.5 years for the planet Saturn to orbit around the sun. When Saturn ‘returns’ to its final 2.5 to 3 years of the orbit after two decades, it’s kind of like a new trial of passage. A new frontier to the planet’s existence and possibly your life too. And with that comes questions. What’s going to happen in your next orbit? What have you done with your last orbit? One can say a human being may feel equally resonant upon reaching their late twenties. And that’s when you’ll get that little spark to enter a whole new frontier of adulthood. It's a period that comes with deep and intense reflection, self-questioning, and insecurity. It all marks the age of 29 (or the period of 27 to 30 approximately) to be the milestone where you challenge your very existence on this Earth.

This sentimental phenomenon is called Saturn Returns, and it’s a revered adage in astrological lore that our talented Hue Blanes wanted to explore in his 2017 album named Holiday. Hue’s from Melbourne. He studied at uni and had played piano since he was a kid with a proper classical education. But he does love his jazz. What you get is a very different combination of classical vs jazz with influences of Chopin and Bach fermenting in their melodic lines in the same room as Nina Simone and the music score of Stanley Kubrick’s classic film Barry Lyndon.  

What better way to introduce yourself to such an eclectic fellow with his piano and voice than at the very intimate and vibrant place of Venue 505. This cute little music venue and bar in Surry Hills near Redfern station has a cozy and warm atmosphere that is hard to match. From the beautiful assortment of different seating to the candles, this only complemented seeing Hue in all his natural glory singing and playing his album on a classic Kawai grand piano. The guy was also a pleasure to talk to! Down-to-earth, not pretentious and just wants to play around with awesome stuff in music, Blanes seems to utilize his adventurous spirit in spades which is sure to make for a very vibrant and curious life. In fact, the guy was so interesting; we almost lost track of time in chatting to each other before he was called away for the show had to start.

A track at the beginning of his new  album is called "In My Head." What better example do we have to his experiences of Saturn Returns than the enchanting yet bittersweet lyrics and piano arrangement of this particular song. The first half of the song goes on a very transcendent-like piano arpeggio reminding you to bask in the wonder of the stars, yet its adagio tempo of lyrics breeds the sweet, contemplative words of yesteryear. In the second half of the piece, it shifts to the more positive side of the astrological event. The piano chords get a bit brighter with lyrics of action and moving forward suggesting that like in all things in life, it's always a continuum. You’ll be hard pressed not to have your own Saturn Return once you listened to this as well as many other resonant tracks of this feature-rich album.

The man is as free as a butterfly in how his unique voice travels through his pieces. The tenor vocals can spread itself over elegantly over the rhythm and his chordal progressions in creating a lush and sentimental sound found in tracks like "Old Man Joe" and "Baby". Hue’s vocals almost remind you of a conversation in singing that is bordering on ‘Sprechgesang,’ or speech-singing! It helps ground Blanes' music to reality where his often simple lyrics of thoughts and actions can be just another subtle slice of life. There is a mature sentimentality to his voice: a certain coarseness with a very prominent amount of slurring that certainly has a bit of a Frank Sinatra tone to it. But that can be totally up to debate as this musician is one that is evidently, very, very eclectic.

Hue’s chordal progression on the piano keys can be quite dissonant at times creating tension and suspense that certainly ramps up the dimensions of experience his music which is found in "The Owl and the Field Mouse" and "Fernando." And then these pieces will shift tones, change to major chords and sound happy in the next moment. This journey that he takes you on in his music certainly has its highs and lows mirroring real life that seriously rewards repeated listening. And then there are the pieces that are just their strange little beasts like "Natalie" which has the Waltz element from classical music producing a three-four time signature going one-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three... It’s blended seamlessly with the romantic lyrics to bring so old-fashioned longing to the perils of modern romance.

Hue Blanes' Holiday may not be everyone’s tastes. It’s stretched out to explore so many different elements from so many universes that it can make even the most avid music listener a bit dizzy if they want to hear everything in one sitting. But of course, that’s the beauty of it. Hue is an advocate of an open mind, the world is a broad place so why not utilise it in all its broadness and capture something human about it? Hence, what you get in Holiday is an album about the human condition that explores so many different genres of music conventions. A definite series of stories to be had in musical form, Saturn returning to Hue has served him well.