By way of readying the more discerning music fan out there for the arrival of a new album this spring, Nick Hudson has quietly ushered out a couple of tracks to get the juices flowing. And why do I use the phrase “discerning listener?” Well, because, without wanting to sound elitist, Nick’s music fits into a small group of musicians whose songs already seem to fall into a niche category. It is a category which will one day be labelled with such tags as, seminal, classic and timeless and which already deserves those marked intelligent, ousider and groundbreaking.
That said, There is No Such Thing As You, takes the form of a stark and stunning piano ballad, one where the understated beauty of the music and gorgeously emotive lyrics rise effortlessly to the surface. Taken from a rehearsal this unadorned take on the song heralds the promise of a wonderfully understated album, his first solo album since 2016’s Ganymede in A State of War.
A short blast of Surkov’s Dream, a second glimpse into what is to follow, reveals a soundscape more in keeping with his work with The Academy of Sun in its more scorched and raw-edged, yet no less ruggedly beautiful musical palette.
Font Of Human Fractures promises to be another gem in Nick Hudson’s already impressive and bejewelled sonic crown and I for one can’t wait.
