Hum Shoot For Stars With New Record
When pushed, Matt Talbott of Hum will tell you that his band met in the
chimpanzee herding area of the Nairobi Zoo. While this is probably a lie, on the
surface, at least, it's not totally untrue either.
The quartet's spacey, guitar-driven drone comes together in such a way as to
evoke images as foreign and exotic as the Kenyan capital.
The 10 tracks on Hum's recently released fourth album, Downward Is
Heavenward, flirt with many of the same untraditional soundscapes covered
on its predecessor, You'd Prefer An Astronaut, focusing on drastic shifts
in dynamics and sweet guitar tones playing off of heavy-metal riffs.
Although recently forced to scratch 11 tour dates after a van accident in
Canada, the group expects to rebound to play a Sunday show at Lowell
Heritage State Park in Boston and a July 5 slot opening for the Smashing
Pumpkins at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee.
Much of the music that Hum play during these shows will likely come off the new
album.
HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Hum/Isle_Of_The_Cheetah.ram">"Isle Of
The Cheetah" (RealAudio excerpt) kicks off the new long-player with a
quiet, melodic guitar intro that yields to the full swell of the band's pounding
attack, with drums punctuating the sonic maelstrom conjured by the thorough
meshing of bass and guitars.
"We were a little confused after the last record," said the 30-year-old
singer/guitarist of himself and bandmates bassist Jeff Dimpsey, guitarist Tim
Lash and drummer Bryan St. Pere. "It took some time to adjust to having to
promote a record, something we had no interest in. We fought that a little bit,
but I think we've learned to accept it as part of the business."
The Champaign, Ill.-based foursome rocketed to prominence three years ago
with the release of You'd Prefer An Astronaut, which soared halfway to
HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Hum/Stars.ram">"Stars"
(RealAudio excerpt). Now, with a new album out and about, the band is
establishing its sound and character as sometimes subtle and musically
complex.
"When you first hear it, you hear the guitars, bass and drums," said Pogo
Studio's Mark Rubel, who co-produced and recorded the album. "After you
hear it six, 10, 12 times, you hear things beneath the surface, overdubs and
things that make it interesting."
Talbott -- whose lyrics and song titles such as "Apollo" and "The Scientists"
hover in the stratosphere and beyond, with a steady stream of references to
rockets, space travel and planets -- admitted to a childhood obsession with
astronomy that has lingered well into adulthood.
HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Hum/If_You_Are_To_Bloom.ram">"If You
Are To Bloom" (RealAudio excerpt) seems headed in a similarly
transcendental direction, Talbott says the lyrics -- "Dreamt of a jet this high/
seeing clouds from the other side" -- are not part of his space fixation.
"It's about a death more than anything else," Talbott said of the tune. "I just write
about whatever comes into my head. Write and rewrite. The songs are more
location-specific than anything else."
In the same way that Hum are learning to promote their album through
interviews and other marketing plans, they also have begun to accept the
importance of radio in their musical world. While Talbott dismisses what most
stations play as worthless these days, he is quick to realize the media's place in
helping make a name for his band.
"It's like that Groucho Marx thing of never wanting to be in a club that would
have you as a member," he said.