New York, NY (Top40 Charts) British avant pop artist Nick Hudson presents his new single 'For My Silence', the first offering from his forthcoming album 'Kanda Teenage Honey', recorded largely in Georgia under the shadow of the Ukraine war, featuring some incredible Georgian musicians in a huge former Soviet movie studio.
Mixed by Toby Driver and mastered to analogue tape by Paul Pascoe at Church Road Studios in Hove, this album was recorded and engineered by Ilya Lukashev at Leno Studio and Sano Studio in Tbilisi.
"This is a song about apologizing to those you love for the period in which you disappeared to make bad life choices, while also singling out those who stood by and did nothing in the name of friendship during this period. The period in question was the third lockdown, where I literally had a glimpse of hell courtesy of a significant mental health collapse," says Nick Hudson.
"This is a reflective song, both confessional and confrontational. The piano for the record was tracked on a 1953 Steinway grand in Leno Studio in Tbilisi - a former Soviet movie studio whose live room is vast enough to record orchestras."
This is Hudson's first release since the 'Lights Svoboda' single, released in 2022 support of Ukraine, for which all proceeds were contributed to charities directly involved in humanitarian aid efforts.
Hudson adds, "The video stars my friend Nika - a 17-year-old Georgian aspiring actor, and whom I've found myself mentoring in cinema. It was shot in a Stalin-era secular graveyard on the mountains outside of Tbilisi and incorporates footage of the actual vocal sessions in the studio, captured by Vlad Gutsin, a 20-year-old refugee from Tomsk. Gigi Koberidze and Beqa Minadze, on drums and guitar respectively, are two of the finest musicians I've had the privilege to work with."
A prolific figure on the UK music scene, Hudson's latest album 'Font Of Human Fractures' was released in 2021, followed by the 'K69996ROMA:EP' later that year. These were Hudson's first solo works in 5 years, only one year had passed since 'The Quiet Earth', the opus album from his band The Academy Of Sun.
Nick's vast output also encompasses painting, film, and a novel. Hudson has also collaborated with Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Matthew Seligman (Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey), members of Kayo Dot, David Tibet (Current 93), Asva, queercore icon GB Jones, as well as Massive Attack's Shara Nelson. Having toured 3 continents, highlights include shows with Mogwai, Toby Driver and Keith Abrams (Kayo Dot), and Timba Harris (Mr Bungle, Amanda Palmer).
Hudson has also just released his book 'The Land Exists So The Seas Don't Argue'. Limited to 50 numbered and signed copies, this is the first volume featuring his lyrical output across the last decade, encompassing five albums plus ephemera created at the same time as the main works - satellite poems that inhabit the same world as each of the primary cosmologies. This collection is possessed of a searing intensity and unity of vision - paganism, queer love, grief, death, ecstasy, radical politics, social satire, hymns to nature and her rhythms and forces. The book also features a foreword by renowned Scottish author and artist Chris Kelso.
As of January 11, the single 'For My Silence' will be available on Bandcamp, followed by other platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music, soon afterwards. The full album 'Kanda Teenage Honey' will be released on March 15.
Composed, produced and arranged by Nick Hudson
Nick Hudson - Steinway piano, acoustic guitar & all vocals
Gigi Koberidze - drums
Beqa Minadze - electric guitars & ebow
Engineered by Ilya Lukashev at Leno and Sano Studios, Tbilisi
Produced by Nick Hudson
Mixed by Toby Driver in NYC
Mastered by Paul Pascoe at Church Road Studios, Hove, UK
Video directed by Nick Hudson
Video actor - Nika Shavgulidze
Artist photography by Carl Solomon
Single cover artwork by Kenneth Anger