In the time between 1996’s Irresistible Behaviour and now, the band won awards, supported BB King, broke up, reunited, reunited again, started gigging regularly again and parted ways with a couple of members.

There was also the release of long lost live album Live At The Continental and the re-release of Irresistible Behaviour, but a new studio album didn’t appear to be on the cards.

That changed in March this year when the band — pared down to a five-piece since the departure of keyboardist Richard Tankard and trumpeter Matt Trenery — set up shop in Nirranda and put together One Day Too Long.

Recorded over a few days by local producer/engineer Brenton Smith, the 10-track album sees Blue Heat sounding relaxed, raw and rejuvenated.

Guitarist Marco Goldsmith agrees with the assessment, adding that recording at sax player Brad Harrison’s Nirranda “retreat” had a lot to do with the fun vibe and sound of the album.

“It’s where we’ve always based our rehearsals,” Goldsmith said. “It was just a comfortable atmosphere, one we were used to, so I guess it was conducive to a relaxed kind of feel. 

“You go into some studios and it’s like walking into hospital. They’re a bit stark and intimidating.

“When (recording) came up, we thought ‘why don’t we record there?’.

“We could record tracks then go out and ... cook a barbie. Brad would be laying down sax solos and you could go have a snooze or whatever. 

“The feel of the environment definitely affected the feel of the record. It’s hard to quantify in words, but there’s a certain ‘relaxedness’.”

The songs on One Day Too Long are a mixture of old tracks that never got recorded, a few newer songs that have become live favourites, and a couple of covers Blue Heat are renowned for playing live, Goldsmith explained.

“A couple of these songs didn’t make the cut when we did (Irresistible Behaviour) in the mid ’90s — they were in the running for a while and then a couple of new songs popped up and these songs got shuffled out,” he said.

“We had that much material in the old days that we didn’t use.”

Opening track Eatin’ Me Up and the kooky shuffle Traded In are among the songs that have lived to see another day, while the Afrobeat-like Seal My Lips had already been recorded by Goldsmith for a solo live album.

“It’s quite a diverse record, but all the songs work,” he explained.

“That’s why we didn’t do any slow blues songs (on this record) — we wanted a good driving album.”

Goldsmith said the songs are also shorter than on previous albums, with the idea that “you could take any track and stick on the radio”.

The elephant in the studio though is the absence of Tankard and Trenery and Goldsmith concedes it has changed the sound of the band.

“Not having Tank (on keyboard) there meant there was no other rhythm instrument (aside from the guitar) and that did affect which material we chose.

“And Trenners was the nice icing on the cake that you miss — he’s also a lovely guy as well and plays great solos, the same with Tank. 

“(But) we’ve been able to utilise the empty spaces as a strength and it’s brought us back to the sound we had before Tank was in the band. It’s rawer, edgier guitar (driven) sound.

“There are some tunes we want to play live ... but they’re impossible to do without the keyboards, and that’s disappointing, but I reckon we more than make up for it with the new stuff.”

Goldsmith said making One Day Too Long was a great experience and more stress-free than previous Blue Heat recordings.

“All of us have settled down a bit and are a bit more relaxed in our musical approach,” he explained. 

“We’re not worried about criticism — it’s all about what we like doing. 

“Before we were more concerned about appealing to the masses. Now it’s about having fun.”

Blue Heat will launch One Day Too Long at The Loft in Warrnambool tomorrow night, supported by Mr John McKensie & Associates.