Paul Mac Unveils New Album Details, Impressive Guest Vocalist Line-Up

Australian electronic-music icon Paul Mac — who may be better-known to you as part of underground dance outfit Itch-E & Scratch-E, or maybe even as the other half of Dissociatives, with Daniel Johns — has announced that he will release his first solo album in more than a decade, Holiday From Me, this April.

With its seeds sown across three continents — Australia, Europe and North America — Holiday From Me finds Mac working alongside a ream of esteemed local vocalists (localists?) including Kira Puru, Megan Washington, Ngaiire, the legendary Dave Mason of The Reels, Mac's Stereogamus collaborator Shaun J Wright (also of Hercules & Love Affair), Nathan Hudson (he of Faker fame), Brendan Maclean, Benjamin Fraser and Dappled Cities frontman Tim Derricourt.

"During the making of the album, I discovered the beautiful voice of Kira Puru, whose singing infuses a power into the album's title track and also the first single, State Of War," Mac explains of the first collaborative track due for release (on 9 February) ahead of Holiday From Me's 10 April street date.

"State Of War is about how love lives on a knife's edge. The intensity of passion is the most ecstatic feeling we all chase, but when it turns sour, there is no stronger hatred than that held for the one you used to love."

Pre-orders for the album will open on 6 March, the day before Mac launches State Of War and select other tracks from the album at this year's Sydney Mardi Gras Party, for which the acclaimed muso will perform a mixed DJ/live set in the main room alongside a few of his excellent guests from the album.

"Mardi Gras is the perfect home to debut the new album," Mac said in a statement. "Mardi Gras helped me come out all those years ago and filled me with a pride of being that can't be stopped. To share such a bunch of personal tracks with like-minded spirits, at the home of my community, feels like an apt and a beautiful way to begin the project."

For more information about the Mardi Gras Party/single showcase on 7 March, head to theGuide or see The Music App.