Even obsessive Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds fans can be forgiven for not being familiar with the name Hugo Race. The Bad Seeds’ line-up is like a revolving door, and despite being a founding member, Race was only present for their very first album. In fact, Nick Cave himself failed to mention Race's name when he was being inaugurated into the ARIA hall of fame, along with all the members of The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party, past and present. What you also may not know is that Race is a prolific artist and producer, having released 13 albums with his band Hugo Race and the True Spirit, as well as fronting influential '80s Melbourne band The Wreckery.

Hugo Race's latest offering is Fatalists, a solo album inspired by a case of pneumonia caught at the tail of touring with The True Spirit. This, and the less than cheerful title, should be a pretty good indicator to the overall tone of the album. Rest assured, Fatalists will not disappoint even those that were only inclined to listen to it merely because of the Bad Seeds connection. The album is a blend of dark, moody, self-reflective acoustic rock, folk, and blues.

Even lyrically, it's on par with lines like: "but that poison tastes so good/that's the elephant in the room/nobody else can see it but you/what are you going to do?" on the opener “Call Her Name”.

On first impression, Fatalists appears to be a fairly stripped back, subdued acoustic affair, but on repeat listens, Race’s skill as a producer is revealed. Not only does the album sound quite immaculate, the layering is immensely sophisticated. While Race's voice and an acoustic guitar form the backbone to all the songs, there is a surprisingly wide range of instrumentation on the album. Guitar noise and feedback build the atmosphere on “Call Her Name”, while slide guitar and marimba float in the background on “The Serpent's Egg”. There are many hidden layers to the album, like the subtle string section that creeps in on several songs, and a surprising amount of electronics for an "acoustic" album. Just listen to the ambient loops in the middle of “Slow Fry”.

Despite all this, Fatalists is still very much rooted in the singer songwriter tradition and centered around Race's voice and lyrics. His vocals stylings are reminiscent of Mark Lanegan, especially in the lower register. The gentle “Will You Wake Up”, with female backing vocals, sounds like it would fit right in on one of Lanegan’s collaborations with Isobelle Campbell. However, to say that Race apes Mark Lanegan's style would be unfair. For one, his voice is nowhere near as raspy. Race's ominous take on Lead Belly's “In The Pines” (also known as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night") is a stark contrast to Kurt Cobain's anguished screams in Nirvana's version. The album's only bright moment, at least sonically, is “Too Many Zeroes”, although lyrically it's just as bleak as the rest of the album.

Unlike a lot of solo acoustic albums, Fatalists is well thought out, and never strays into self indulgence. Though some might find it slow going, and it does take a few listens to sink in, it’s well worth persevering with.

8/10