with The Superjesus

Waves, Towradgi

Saturday, October 18

Treasured musical acts taking a break often speak of a "hiatus", an extended time off where members "explore other interests" or "focus on family".

It is often used as an alternative to announcing a formal break-up, giving members time to relax, unwind and decompress from the hectic touring and recording environment.

Sometimes the band gets back together, sometimes they don't, but the "comeback" album is almost always tricky.

Except when you're Jeff Martin and The Tea Party.

"It felt like the best of family reunions," Martin says of the band's album The Ocean At The End.

Released in September, 10 years after their last record, it was the culmination of a slow reunion after the Canadian trio spent eight years apart.

"It was exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, I'm supposed to be with those two and them with me."

Martin, based in Australia since 2008, brought the band back together after a well-documented and at times painful hiatus.

A 2012 Australian tour marked their formal reformation after almost a decade separated, sowing the seeds for what Martin calls one of The Tea Party's most powerful records.

"If we were going to put out an album, it would have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything we've ever done before," he said.

"We took our time and the proof is in the pudding.

"It is an exact statement of where us three gentlemen are in our lives.

"We wanted to let it grow organically, and let it go when it's ready and when we are happy with it."

In the eight years off, Martin himself cooked up an album with Sarah McLeod of the Superjesus - "that collab might see the light of day next year," - and composed music for a religious mass.

Spending time cooped up in a recording studio may seem the perfect pressure cooker for a band relationship already on tenterhooks.

Martin freely admits the process had its emotional and difficult moments, but said it actually solidified the trio's relationship in the end. "The only nerves were at the beginning, when the three of us started writing for the first time again.

"We had to work through some differences, but that's what brought us together again," he said.

"In the last few records, it was like a rock'n'roll circus.

"There was too much nonsense in the background, probably my fault, but this time the focus was on making great music that reminded the three of us what we could doou together."

Martin says the back-to-basics focus of the record has him licking his lips over a return to the live arena, with a big Australian tour planned to launch the album.

"One thing I love about the album, it's guitar driven.

"We won't need a lot of programming or keyboards on tour, and I'll have a lot of fun doing this one," he laughed.