Wang Chung frontman Jack Hues has announced that he will release a new free three-track EP, Canterbury Live, today. The new EP celebrates one year since Hues' debut solo album Primitif was released and acts as a taster for his second solo album, due this summer.
The three track EP features renditions of Whitstable Beach, The Look Of Love and Astrology recorded at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury on October 1 last year. The show took place during a brief relaxation of the pandemic lockdown rules and Jack describes that it happened at all as "miraculous".
"I began writing and recording in a little apartment in the heart of Canterbury and added amazing musicians, friends and family to the mix. I wove musical threads through the songs creating connections, confections, diversions and dispersions. It has taken me a long time to release a solo album so there is a lot to say and it has to be a double album to carry that weight of years and experience. The emotional landscape is primal, the means of production were basic, if not exactly primitive... so it became Primitif.
"We were scheduled to do an album launch gig on the day of release, 21March 2020, but lockdown was just beginning and it was postponed. We randomly selected October 1 as the alternative date thinking it will all be over by then... But the date stayed in the Gulbenkian diary, we tried a rehearsal with a smaller band than we initially intended in order to comply with the restrictions. It was great to play again - we kept going and the gig happened, people came out to see us - it was miraculous that we managed to walk out on that stage!"
You can watch a video of Hues performing Astrology at the Gulbeknian Theatre below.
Jack Hues: Canterbury Live EP
1. Whitstable Beach
2. The Look Of Love
3. Astrology
