Star Death by Hugo Race & The True Spirit

I'm totally rapt to present you Star Birth's Neptunian twin disc, Star Death! I love this album and here are a few reasons why... Back in the 80s and 90s, mixing albums on big analog desks was a high pressure situation - you and your engineer were on the clock and there was never enough time. And yet, you could always hear the endless twisted possibilities in isolating certain instruments and in effect creating a remix so radical it didn't even sound like the original track. Over the years, I've found this deconstruction of the mix to be a creative trigger and inspired by all kinds of things (dub, techno, Ligeti too) I've just kept exploring this space using different techniques. While working on Star Birth, Michelangelo and I discovered a parallel world of alternative mixes and decided to give them their own record to inhabit - an instrumental True Spirit album unlike anything we've done before - and yet connected to the past through albums like Ambuscado and Wet Dream. It wasn't easy to sell this idea to the record company but when Janusz at Gusstaff actually heard the album, he was converted to the cause. We eventually persuaded him to also make a double vinyl album (very expensive and most labels would refuse) even if it it is a very limited edition as Janusz is cutting every copy of Star Death by hand. Listening to Star Death, I notice different sound moments emerge, depending on my state of mind and the circumstances I'm listening in. Driving, yes, or just leaving it on repeat at low volume at sunset so it accompanies everyday's long journey to the end of the night... Because its a trip through dissonance and harmony where echoes of the Star Birth songs bounce around in limbo, untethered from the lyrics and drums, an atonal dreamlike landscape where everything is so very strangely familiar you'd swear you've heard it before...

Tracklist

1.	Divided	1:46

2.	Love Is The Energy	3:33

3.	Virus Of The Mind	6:16

4.	Angels Whistleblowin'	4:13

5.	All We Have Is Love	5:40

6.	Hungry Ghost	4:33

7.	Only Honey	4:17

8.	Can't Make Shit Up	5:16

9.	My Little Wars	3:54

10.	Etheric Bodies	3:19

11.	Gnosis	3:00

12.	Spirale	2:54

Credits

released October 15, 2020

Hugo Race – voice, guitars, synths, clavinet
Michelangelo Russo – harp, trombone, trumpet, moog
Nico Mansy – strings ensemble, synths, pianos, guitar
Bryan Colechin – bass, vocals
Chris Hughes – guitar, drums, synth, percussion
Brett Poliness – drums, percussion, vocals

Recorded at Soundpark Studio, Melbourne, July-November 2019
Recording engineer – Andrew ‘Idge’ Hehir
Additional recording: Nico Mansy @ Barranca, Los Angeles
Chris Hughes @ Klangbild Studios, Berlin, Dugald Jayes, Melbourne
Mix and post-production at Helixed, Melbourne, Dec 2019-March 2020
Produced by Hugo Race

License