If you’ve paid any attention to the Aussie music scene in the last few years, you’ve probably come across Harts, the Melbourne-based muso whose unique blend of funk and soul have seen him gain worldwide praise. However, if his recent onstage comments are anything to go by, it looks as though we might not be seeing much more of Harts in the future.
Harts has spent the last couple of days up in Byron Bay, performing two stellar sets to an eager crowd at the annual Bluesfest concert. However, it was an onstage comment during Saturday’s show that now has fans talking.
Performing on the Jambalaya stage last night, Darren Hart addressed the crowd to tell them that “this isthe last year for Harts,” indicating that we might not be seeing too much more music released under the Harts name in the future.
While Darren Hart didn’t give too much more info out to his audience, this announcement would undoubtedly come as a bit of a shock for his fans, especially considering that he released a new single, ‘Mercy’, back in February, and according to a recent interview with Lunchbox, aims to release two new albums this year as a follow-up to 2016’s Smoke Fire Hope Desire.
“I’ve decided I’m going to do two albums this year,” Darren Hart said in last week’s interview. “The records will come out on the same day. One will be a rock record and the other a funk/pop record. I just want to release more music and not have to worry about being confined to one genre. Give people everything they want.”
“A lot of people love the blues Hendrix-y thing but they also love that 80’s slick Prince pop thing. It’s opening up what the Harts project is and opening my brand to the fact that I want to put out more diverse music. I don’t want to have to keep putting ideas in the vault.”
While this information seems to put the future of Harts’ music in doubt, there’s also the chance that this statement could be a lot less alarming than it seems. After all, it might just mean we’re about to see a name change, or it might just mean that Harts is about to take some time off to work on something else for a while.
At this stage, only time will tell, but if this is indeed the last year for Harts, the Aussie music scene is about to lose a very exciting artist.
Tone Deaf has reached out to Harts’ management for further comment.
Check out Harts’ ‘Mercy’:
