Nick Hudson • Surkov's Dream

Brighton-based singer-songwriter Nick Hudson presents the single 'Surkov's Dream', offering a stark and melodic synth-based introduction to his new solo album 'Font Of Human Fractures'. Earlier, he shared a live rendition (recorded in Sophia, Bulgaria) of 'There is No Such Thing as You', the studio version of which will also appear on the LP.

Recorded and mastered at Church Road Studios by Paul Pascoe (Barry Adamson, Beat Hotel), this 10-track offering is Hudson's first solo studio album since 'Ganymede In A State Of War' (2016).

This first single features a MIDI instrument constructed from samples made by Nick and engineer Paul Pascoe of the bass pedals of the vast church organ of St. Mary's in Brighton as it narrates an oneiric monologue from the imagined subconscious of Putin's Grey Cardinal.

'Font of Human Fractures' is a collection of neo-classical torch songs with electronic undertones, 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.

This record is a kaleidoscopic and emotionally transparent document of the search for self-worth – and ultimately love – in a thorny, unevenly-stacked world. Scored almost entirely for piano and two violins, this 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).

As of February 24, Surkov's Dream' will be available everywhere online, including Bandcamp and Spotify. The 'Font of Human Fractures' album will be released on vinyl and digitally on April 30.

“Nick Hudson is a unique talent. His song writing and performances are breathtaking.  He is long overdue being heard by a wider audience. This solo album is a peak in an already stellar career” ~ Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai)

“Scott Walker channeling Coil” ~ MOJO Magazine

"Surreal and spacey... Eerie and wonderful, with great depth" ~ The Spill Magazine

"The intimacy of a musical diary as well as an epic theatrical fascination... thrilling tension between its thematic juxtapositions and arrangements of diverse acoustic, electric, and synthetic instrumentation" ~ No Ripcord

“Genius” - BBC Radio (BBC Introducing)

"A song-suite of liberation, violence and ambition that is rich in promise and dizzying in its potential" ~ The Quietus 

"A welcome earworm for any music aficionado and especially those with a taste for highly melodic and cutting-edge pop experimentalism" ~ Amplify Music Magazine

Nick Hudson
Surkov's Dream
24 February 2021

Keep up with Nick Hudson / The Academy of Sun
Facebook • Bandcamp • Twitter
  Instagram •  YouTube • Spotify

© Photo Wolfgang Dubieniec©  Layout : Selection Sorties ...  FR 2017 • 2021