Paul Woolford returns as Bobby Peru on March 3 when he releases The Truth, an album that’s being billed up as “a hard-hitting excursion into the heart of techno”. The album seems to be a pretty personal work. We’re told that The Truth is a brutally honest musical narrative which documents and lays bare some of the tough times faced by Paul. One of the most significant chapters in the story details his recent finding of his birth father after 26 years. On their first meeting, Paul found out that his father has the same name and is also a musician. In fact Paul Hession is a respected jazz drummer and writer whose album Soft Drum Set was a favourite for Wire magazine in 1999. The reunion must have got even more bizarre when Paul found out his dad had also toured with Warp artist Squarepusher, one of his own influences. On The Truth, Paul marks this event by cutting up Hession’s drums on the tracks Anatomy of Desire and Emotional Violence.
Paul’s massive 2006 hit Erotic Discourse also gets rework on The Truth, with Green Velvet producing an exclusive re-edit – knocked together on the day before he was going to cut the album. Paul and Curtis met in strange circumstances when they played together in Liverpool, and Curtis found himself without a hotel room and wanted to freshen up. Paul lent his room to Curtis and he offered the use of his edit in return.
Elsewhere you’ll find Throb, reminiscent of early Martin Gore productions for Depeche Mode, Each and Every Time, which shows Larry Heard’s early influence on Paul, Once Bitten, with its hip hop drums, Venom, a the turning point for Woolford's production pre-Erotic Discourse, and Aguire and Shibboleth, which boast a touch of classically influenced music.
Paul Woolford presents… Bobby Peru – The Truth is out on 2020Vision on March 3. Visit www.myspace.com/paulwoolford and www.2020recordings.com
