Light And Dark

Back in 2010, it seemed a good idea for guitarist and composer Julian Curwin to explore the possibilities of a slimmer, lighter version of his nine-piece ensemble The Tango Saloon, in six-piece “chamber” mode. He dubbed them The Mango Balloon and released an album titled Volume 1. Two years on, with a new Tango album, Shadows & Fog, out, it was time to revisit the Mango. The result is Volume 2, and a more diverse collection you couldn't ask for, with everything from darkly romantic ballads through to the twang of surf guitar in Grindhouse, with nods to waltzes and various exotic points between.

“I guess The Mango Balloon mission statement has always been to have that lighter, loungier [sound],” Curwin explains, though here he finds he needs to correct himself with a chuckle. “We haven't really done lounge that much – that lighter sound. On this album, it does get a bit heavier at times, but all in all the ideas are smaller and quieter I guess, for want of a better word.”

Volume 1 featured saxophonist Eddie Branson guesting, bringing something of a klezmer feel, where singer Brian Campeau brought something unexpected to the mix on Volume 2. “It's a bit of a weird way of describing it, but it's like I'm trying to write an album that's somewhere between if he wrote an album for me and I wrote an album for him. And I said that to Brian [and] he said, 'I don't hear it',” Curwin laughs. “But I keep hearing little bits of the style that I've seen him do at gigs and on his albums in what we've done. But ultimately it's just wanting to explore a different style and personality, so it comes across obviously more as a song-based thing, folky, occasionally bluesy.”

That's the only two songs the pair wrote together, Campeau becoming a vocal instrument on his other two appearances. The rest is pure Mango. “It's funny with Brian,” Curwin adds. “He can be such a dark guy that at one point there was this really dark album and I just threw in a few upbeat pieces to make it a bit more Balloony!”

The Mango Balloon will be playing the following shows:

Saturday 10 November - Venue 505, Sydney NSW