Songs from the Hart

Twenty years on from Frente’s formation, and over a decade since the band officially split up, former frontwoman Angie Hart admits she still fields regular requests and questions about that song — the easy to love and even easier to mock (as anyone who saw The Late Show’s brilliant piss-take, Accidentally Was Released, would know) 1992 single Accidently Kelly Street.
“It’s been the hot topic forever,” Hart told Sydney Star Observer.
“I really hated it for such a long time. I’m now learning to at least like it — it is important to play the songs that people want to hear. It’s a great exercise as a musician to find a way back into a song and get back into playing it again.”
If her warm, relaxed new album Eat My Shadow is any indication, Hart seems to have finally outrun the shadows of her past and come full circle to the sort of light acoustic pop that first made Frente a multi-platinum success back in 1992.
“I feel like I’m hitting my stride a bit more when it comes to making albums, especially launching out solo,” she said.
“On my first solo record [2007’s Grounded Bird] I had a bit of an emotional spew. It was quite a difficult album, whereas this one came about a bit easier.”
Much of this sunnier outlook is due to the fact that Hart is now in a happy relationship — much of her previous recorded output, from Frente through her time in the duo Splendid (formed with now ex-husband Jesse Tobias) was written amid the turbulence of failing relationships.
“It’s nice to know I can still write songs when I’m happy — I think a lot of artists fear that when they’re happy their creativity will dry up. It’s a relief that I don’t have to be miserable to write.
“I’ve had a lot of difficulty writing up-tempo songs in the past, partly out of reaction to Frente, but I’ve finally found a part of me that can write that sort of stuff again. It’s a relief, because I like up-tempo, happy music.”
She may have a new musical outlook, but Hart’s trademark wryly personal songwriting remains intact, never more so than on I Lead When We Dance, a humourous account of her refusal — or inability — to play the role of the sweet, fragile lady.
“That’s my difficult woman song. It’s kind of the only way I can write, being very open and personal. It gets a bit challenging when it comes time to perform them live and I feel nervous about having to perform such personal songs, but I find that the most original stuff comes when I tell as much truth as I can.”
info: Eat My Shadow is out now.