December 22, 2024

Skylight Webzine

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Nick Hudson (The Academy of Sun) reveals the emotional ballad ‘There Is No Such Thing As You’

Brighton-based singer-songwriter Nick Hudson has announced that he will release his new ‘Font Of Human Fractures’ album this spring. Ahead of this 10-track offering, he presents a teaser for ‘Surkov’s Dream’(out February 24)  and a live rendition (recorded in Sophia, Bulgaria) of ‘There is No Such Thing as You’ – the studio version of this track also appears on the LP.

This is his first solo studio album since‘Ganymede In A State Of War’ (2016). Recorded and mastered at Church Road Studios by Paul Pascoe (Barry Adamson, Beat Hotel), these are neo-classical torch songs, banishing rituals and searing ballads, scored for piano and two violins, underlined with gothic electronica, with dramatic cameos and curveballs. Musically, Hudson is influenced by Coil, Kate Bush, Laibach, Danny Elfman, Nico and Scott Walker.

The new solo release, scored almost entirely for piano and two violins, is a ruminative melting pot from the point of view of a queer man in his late thirties. It is like a dialogue with his younger self, negotiating himself free of toxic programming and banishing the inhibitions that can blight, dull and impotize the best of us.  

Nick Hudson is a prolific figure on the UK underground music scene and is perhaps best known as frontman of art-rock band The Academy Of Sun, who released their dystopian epic ‘The Quiet Earth’last year to critical acclaim. Apart from music, Nick’s vast output also encompasses painting, film, and he has just completed his first novel.

Hudson has also collaborated with Wayne Hussey (The Mission) and Matthew Seligman (Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey), as well as members of NYC’s Kayo Dot, David Tibet (Current 93), Asva and Canadian queercore icon GB Jones. As The Academy Of Sun, he has also collaborated with Massive Attack’s Shara Nelson. Having toured 3 continents, highlights include appearances with Mogwai, Toby Driver and Keith Abrams of Kayo Dot, and Timba Harris (Mr Bungle, Amanda Palmer).

‘Font Of Human Fractures’ is a kaleidoscopic and emotionally transparent document of the search for self-worth – and ultimately love – in a thorny, unevenly-stacked world. On April 30, this record will be released on vinyl and also digitally everywhere, including Bandcampand Spotify. Already on February 24, the first single ‘Surkov’s Dream’ should be revealed.

Keep up with Nick Hudson / The Academy of Sun
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