Paul Woolford presents The Truth

Thursday, 24th January 2008 at 4:35 pm / Words: Beat Factor

Woolford has grafted throughout his career and produced over 100 releases prior to this album. There have been many tough times along the way and these have been documented and laid bare in this brutally honest musical narrative.

One of the most significant chapters in the story details his recent finding of his birth father after 26 years. On their first meeting he found out that his father was also called Paul and also a musician.

We can only imagine what impact this must have had on someone who has pursued their own musical path all their life. In fact Paul Hession is a highly respected Jazz drummer and writer whose album,"Soft Drum Set" became a favourite for Wire magazine in 1999. The reunion must have got even more bizarre when Woolford found out his father had also toured with Warp artist Squarepusher, one of his own influences!

On "The Truth" Erotic Discourse gets a working over by the legendary Green Velvet who produced an exclusive re-edit on meeting Woolford the day before he was going to cut the album! The two met in strange circumstances when they played together in Liverpool and Curtis (G.V) found himself without a hotel room and wanted to freshen up. Woolford gladly lent his room out and Curtis offered the use of his edit in return. Its great to know that it is not always all about "da money!"

"The Truth" features 10 exclusive new tracks including "Emotional Violence", "Scandal" and "Radioactive" which will be released as singles but this album is not just about dancefloor bombs. Woolford further showcases his production skills as well his ability to write songs. We start off with the title track, which is a whirlwind assault the DFA would be proud of, live drums and bass are cut up over sirens and we are off to a flying start. "Throb" is reminiscent of early Martin Gore productions for Depeche Mode and sounds as massive as a Chemical Brothers track. Further diversity comes in the shape of "Each and Every Time", which shows Larry 'Mr Fingers' Heard early influence on Woolford. "Once Bitten" has hip hop drums firmly as its backbone and hits as hard as a Wu Tang workout. "Venom" is included as we felt it had not only stood the test of time but stands out as the turning point for Woolford's production pre-Erotic. "Aguire" and "Shibboleth" round up the work with a touch of classically influenced music so often missing on electronic albums.

"Shibboleth" was directly inspired by Doris Salcedo's installation at The Tate Modern if you were wondering about the strange title! All in all the range of tracks and influences are diverse, yet always consistent, as "The Truth" seeks to give a very personal viewpoint of life as Woolford has lived it. If you get to question him closer you will uncover many more interesting stories that lie behind the music.