Hugo Race and his long time collaborators the True Spirit release their first album in seven years on May 29th 2015 through German independent Glitterhouse Records. ‘The Spirit’ is the band’s 12th studio album, not including live albums and retrospectives and while Hugo’s prolific and eclectic catalogue includes solo albums and an astonishing variety of international collaborations, The Spirit presents a return to his roots in a psych-rock zone tagged by Melody Maker in the band’s early days as ‘industrial trance blues’.
Produced by Hugo over a period of three years in his hometown of Melbourne with the same line-up (Michelangelo Russo – electronics, Bryan Colechin – bass, Brett Poliness – drums and percussion, Nico Mansy – keys) featured on albums like Goldstreet Sessions (2003), Taoist Priests (2006) and 53rd State (2008), The Spirit is fuelled by high-energy rhythmic drive and Race’s darkly humorous lyrics with the band wielding space and sonic suggestion as instruments in their own right.
Hugo Race, formerly of The Wreckery and the Bad Seeds and now an internationally based solo artist, producer and performer with acts such as Dirtmusic and Sepiatone, delivers intense sonic soundscapes that merge folk, experimentalism, electronica and rock.
Listen back to Junkyard with Michael Mulholland, for a live set from Hugo Race and the True Spirit.
