The Turning Gate

Hart looses her Grounded Bird

An indepth preview of Angie Hart's stunning new solo album

I love Angie Hart. I’ve loved her since first I heard her in 1994 on one of my cousin’s mix tapes. I’ve loved her through Frente, through Splendid, Holidays On Ice, Four Hours Sleep and a great many other appearances. And in the years since having first heard her, I’ve had good fortune enough that I can now call her my friend. And so it’s with the utmost pleasure that I now write good things about her solo debut, Grounded Bird, not because she’s my friend, but because it’s a record truly deserving of having good things written about it.

Grounded Bird is a hodge-podge of mostly new songs and a few old songs recorded anew. In general, the album is much more vocal-centric than Angie’s prior releases, as part of a band. This distinction sets the record somewhat apart from its predecessors, and marks it for what it is: a solo record by a unique and extraordinary vocalist.

The record draws themes and subject matter from Angie’s own life, the foremost theme being that of beginning anew. In many ways, Grounded Bird marks a new beginning for Angie, not least of all a new beginning for her musical career.

When it came time to record the album, Angie called in friends and associates. It’s obvious listening to the songs the affection and respect they bear towards Angie; it shows through their playing, magnificent throughout the album. And Angie shines on every track.

When beginning anew, it’s good to know where you’ve come from. The album opens with one foot in the past, a reinterpretation of Asleep. The song, co-written with Ben Lee, first appeared as the opener of Splendid’s last official release, the States of Awake EP, and has long been a mix tape favorite of mine. Splendid’s version began quietly with guitar, then quickly took to running as the bass, drums and keyboards spurred into motion.

This new version is something altogether different. Appropriately, the first thing we hear is Angie’s voice. A stuttering electronic back-beat fills in where once the there was a band, and sounds are gradually and carefully overlaid on this basic framework. Angie’s voice remains front and center throughout. It’s very different from the Asleep I already know and love, but lovely all the same. It’s not a case of which version I prefer; they’re both fantastic. Choosing one over the other will probably depend upon my state of mind at any given time.

The second track, Care, much more resembles the Asleep of old: a full band affair with hard-hitting drums, rockin’ guitar and keyboards. The song is heavy on melodic hooks. Angie’s voice is aces here, and the instrumental break midway through is fantastic. It could have been the single! That honor, however, went to the next track.

Cold Heart Killer shipped out to radio and television in early August, a mid-tempo, bittersweet rocker featuring punchy guitar, sweeping keyboards and Angie’s signature songcraft. It’s a song destined to win over fans old and new with its clever wordplay and wonderful vocals. You are like an ice king and you’re picking holes in me / But I have thawed and I forgive who you were made to be / Maybe you grew, maybe you tried, Maybe you knew, maybe you lied / I don’t care cos I’ve begun to live when I thought that I had died.

Fans who’ve followed Angie over the last couple years may already be familiar with Don’t Be Shy, Angie’s advice to herself. The song begins with a solitary, effect-laden, stammering guitar, sounding as if it were nervous being heard. As the song progresses, however – There’s no need to hide, no need to tread light – it begins to come out of hiding, eventually growing to a big rock’n roll conclusion, complete with distorted guitar and controlled feedback – that shy guitar living up to the song’s advice.

Feel What You Don’t is a misleading song. Angie crooning Things you can’t touch are the most real / I won’t make you feel what you don’t, you very quickly begin to feel something you might not have been feeling before the song began – a sort of creeping melancholy, longing and futility. What you can’t see won’t believe you / Madmen weren’t made or taught / Tell a tree how to grow / Not to be beautiful … You only get one way to live this / That way is not your choice / Tied not told / Where to turn / Who to hold / Under … It’s a downer, but a beauty.

Kiwi, a real grounded bird, the namesake of the album, a metaphor, another beautiful song. As I walk along this road / And one foot leaves the ground / Every step that I catch air is a promise / And I am hopeful to myself I am honest / I’m an earthly being / I’m a grounded bird / If I don’t set my sights too high / I can fly / Hi / If this is as good as it gets / If the bar is set to feel no regrets / Then I am happy with my story / Disappointment’s born in my pursuit of glory. The first half of Kiwi is played low key; the second half rocks loud. Uplifting and hopeful, a simultaneous acceptance of limitations and a willingness to push the bar ever higher in the pursuit of life and living.

First Time, a song about life’s constant new beginnings and its unabating opportunities for self-discovery and reevaluation, sounds like a lullaby underwater, like something you might expect to hear in the Roadhouse on Twin Peaks.

Sand, another Ben Lee co-write, another song about starting over again. Fans may already be familiar with this one and its fantastic lyrics from live performances. Nothing ever works out the way I planned / Life is a mandala made of sand / I’ve been doing the best I can / And now I’ve gotta start all over again. Sonically, lyrically, Sand is a powerful song, one of the best on the album, perhaps one of the best of Angie’s career. It’s full of contradictions, explorations, affirmations and new beginnings, a lot like life – I wanted to be found / So I hid … Got my heart broken just so I could feel love … Rolled with the punches just to see if I would mend … I kissed a frog / Looking for god / Is that the craziest thing you ever heard? / I just needed something to believe in / Or not / I was hoping … This one song makes the album worth picking up on its own, never mind that the entire album is fantastic.

My Thief might haunt you. The song is strange, plodding, heavy and slow like molasses, almost industrial. The lyrics are interesting, but dense as the rest of it. Choose your own adventure / Turn the page it’ll get ya. This is a darker side of Angie, a side you might choose to listen to on MySpace. Open the page, it’ll get ya.

My Year of Drinking is a co-write with Dean Manning, one of Angie’s talented cohorts from Holidays On Ice. Following the weight of My Thief, and despite its very serious subject matter, the song comes on with a welcome lightness of sound. My year of drinking started with you / My year of drinking ended without you / As they do / Chose you, my piece of ass / Kindred spirits in a glass … house. Simple, finger-plucked guitar sets this one out from its peers, and a guitarist fumble at the outset nicely sets up the song: “Oh, for fuck’s sakes, sorry, sorry, sorry,” says the guitarist. “Away demons! 1, 2, 3 … “ And it really is a song about chasing away demons, about fragility, mistakes and recovery.

Like Asleep, Stop Buying Things began life as a Splendid song; it originally appeared as a b-side to the Less Than Zero single. This rendition bears some likeness to Splendid’s version of the song – a great deal more likeness than is shared by the two versions of Asleep – but is an improvement on the original in almost every way. Productions values are up, and the backing vocals breathe new life into the song, especially around the two minute mark where the voices rise up in a powerful chorus of Angies. The song should have been done this way in the first place.

As Grounded Bird concerns itself so much with beginnings, endings and new beginnings, the album closes appropriately with Start My Day and its mantra of Get back on when I fall off / Get back on when I fall off / Get back on when I fall off … Unusually My Bloody Valentine-esque in its wall of sound approach, except that the song is all about looking up rather than looking down. Weird, but sensational. Uncharacteristic, but appropriate. This is Angie doing what Angie does, doing what Grounded Bird is all about, defining what this album IS …

Angie did fall off, and she readily and publicly admits to that; Grounded Bird is Angie getting back on. If the album sounds personal, that’s because it is. This is Angie singing from her heart, from her experiences in love, life and music, picking herself back up again, picking up all her shit, rolling it into a ball of clay and making something great from it. Grounded Bird is more than an album, more than a comeback, more than a solo debut. Grounded Bird is Angie’s triumph, her recovery from disillusionment and frustration, from broken relationships and personal fallout. Grounded Bird is Angie’s new beginning, and should stand as an inspiration for anyone else in need of a personal reboot.

Grounded Bird is the best album Angie has ever made, and it’s already in my personal running for album of the year. Pass this by at your own musical peril.

Grounded Bird will be released on September 22 through ABC Music/Warner Music Australia. Domestic and international preorders have begun.

Two songs are available for listening on Angie’s MySpace page, or watch the Cold Heart Killer video on YouTube. Stay tuned to Angie’s website for release and touring information.

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