What is a band but a relationship that has songs and sound equipment in tow? Prone to the same communication breakdowns and moodswings that affect a couple, a band, once the honeymoon phase is over, is in almost constant peril of breaking up. Just ask Venus Hum, who've recently trekked over a long, rocky road to deliver their stellar third album, The Colors In The Wheel. Upon the recording of their critically acclaimed 2002 major label debut, Big Beautiful Sky, the planets aligned for Tony Miracle, Kip Kubin and Annette Strean. They signed not one, but two major label deals. They toured the world, playing to hundreds of thousands of fans. They rubbed shoulders with everyone from JJ Abrams to the Blue Man Group. The whole momentum was, admits Kubin, "magical." Then, a year into the Hum's great adventure, things started to unravel. Mergers and misunderstandings deep-sixed their record deals. Life on the road took its toll. Worst of all, Strean found herself living in almost constant pain, with vocal nodes that threatened to end her career. The initial conversations that led to The Colors In The Wheel were tentative but full of hope. Miracle says, "We had a desire to keep it going. When it works, it works so easily, and it's so creative and fun. I didn't want that to go away. But the separation made it tough. We had to learn to make a record while being separated, emotionally and physically." Working together and apart, the group began to approach their new material with an Eno-esque oblique strategy that deliberately pushed against their identity as a premiere electronic pop band.
