LOS ANGELES (Sanctuary Records) - Vocalist/bass guitarist
Glenn Hughes will issue his new solo album 'Soul Mover' on February 22, 2005, through Sanctuary Records. It's his first release for Sanctuary as a solo artist.
Special guests on 'Soul Mover' are Red Hot
Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and
Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.
Hughes, formerly a member of Trapeze,
Deep Purple and
Black Sabbath, is the owner of one of the most distinctive voices in all of rock 'n' roll, and nowhere is his soulful voice more evident than on 'Soul Mover.'
The 12 songs on 'Soul Mover' are: "Soul Mover," "She Moves Ghostly," "Change Yourself," "High Road," "Let It Go," "Dark Star," "Miss
Little Insane," "Land Of The Living," "Isolation," "Last Mistake," "
Orion" and "Don't Let Me Bleed."
Smith plays on the entire album and Hughes cites him as the inspiration behind 'Soul Mover.'
"Chad has been a dear friend of mine for a long time and he really pushed me to make 'Soul Mover.' It finally gave us a chance to work together. He's a big fan of Deep Purple, and we hit it off as people," Hughes says. "Throughout my whole career, I've been blessed to be able to sing, play and write with various musicians. I love being challenged just a little differently each time with each new album and with 'Soul Mover,' this is my next phase. Chad really encouraged me to make an artistic record, not one geared toward a specific audience.
"I've done nine solo albums in the last 12 years and I've flirted with everything from hard funk to dark hard rock. I wanted 'Soul Mover' to be a rock record and more stripped bare. More street-sounding than super slick. However, it would be absolutely impossible for me not to be soulful and funky because my background is in British hard rock with the
Beatles and American soul music from
Detroit and
Memphis as huge influences. My style is a hard rock/soul/funk hybrid.
"I have to say that 'Soul Mover' is really the most fulfilling, cohesive album I have ever done. It's almost like I'm a new artist. I am also very happy to be with Sanctuary Records and I feel it's the appropriate label for me to be on."
The urge to write music is an overpowering fire within Hughes, and 'Soul Mover' is the result of the best songs he has ever created.
"I'm writing songs probably 300 days a year. I have no say so. I've got to write. It's in my head and it has to come out," the Cannock, England, native says.
"I write songs in many forms. I'm not a computer geek, so I don't have an elaborate home studio setup like that. I use a Dictaphone and I always have it with me. Sometimes I'll be walking on a beach and a title, lyric or melody pops into my head. My songwriting takes on so many ways and forms, and I'm cherishing that gift each day. The 12 tracks on 'Soul Mover' are the epitome of me now."
The vibrant edge that radiates from 'Soul Mover' is a direct result of the power of a band performance.
"This album was cut live at Sound Image Studios in Los Angeles over a weekend in March 2004, and virtually no overdubs were done," says Hughes. "There was a lot of incredible interaction as Chad and I recorded with my guitarist JJ Marsh and my keyboardist Ed Roth. Dave Navarro plays on the title track and the intro to 'She Moves Ghostly.' "
'Soul Mover' is a monumental marker of Hughes' creative and personal development and he knows it: "This is the right record at the right time."
