Helixed
Hugo Race projects
The Born To Fly Video directed, shot & edited by Miguel Rios
Hugo Race Fatalists:
I Made It All Up For You
I Made It All Up For You is the new album by Hugo Race Fatalists, their 6th studio album, set for release in April 2026 thru Gusstaff Records / Helixed
LP / CD Release date: Friday 20 March 2026
Digital Release Date: Friday 27 March 2026
SmartLink: https://mgmreleases.com/imadeitallupforyou
Bandcamp link: https://hugoracefatalists.bandcamp.com/album/i-made-it-all-up-for-you
Hugo Race returns after collaborative albums with Steve Kilbey (Speed of the Stars ‘While Italy Dreamed’), Michelangelo Russo (‘100 Years’) and Gianni Maroccolo (‘The Vigil’, winner of the prestigious Premio Ciampi Speciale) with I Made It All Up For You, an epic album with his Italian band Fatalists - existential songwriting framed by the band's fusion of roots, electronica, Italian soundtracks and desert rock.
https://maximumvolumemusic.com/review-hugo-race-fatalists-i-made-it-all-up-for-you-2026/
'Hugo Race has what I’d call a lived in voice, wonderfully expressive... This latest album with The Fatalists `I Made It All Up For You` is emotionally intense, has a remoteness at times but is wonderfully narrative and atmospheric. A real lo-fi slow burn and a must listen.'
https://americana-uk.com/hugo-race-fatalists-i-made-it-all-up-for-you
This is Race’s sixth release with Italian backing band Fatalists, and reflects influences and soundscapes absorbed from the Italian music scene as well as the artist’s interest in blues and other American soundscapes. Bare, acoustic sketches originally recorded by Race in a remote cabin in Italy were expanded and transformed with the collaboration of musicians such as frequent PJ Harvey bassist Giovanni Ferrario and Jennifer Charles of New York band Elysian Fields. The result is a moody, atmospheric production, with Race’s voice weaving in and out of a textured background throughout, grounded violins and acoustic guitars punctuated by hints of electronica. A sort of latent, mystical grandeur is pervasive in the album, distancing it from the remote cabin of its origins and inching it towards the wider mass appeal of arena rock: somewhere between Bon Iver and U2. In the end there is a terse sensuality to the record, the appeal of a car ride at dusk.
Uncut UK, March 2026:
'A singer in his more downbeat mode, sighing through a suite of distinctly Leonard Cohen-ish rueful reflections. 'Broken Love' and 'I Collide', adorned with vocals by Elysian Fields' Jennifer Charles are among the highlights.' Rating 7/10
Anxious Magazine, Warsaw, Poland, March 2026
https://anxiousmagazine.pl/recenzje/hugo-race-fatalists-i-made-it-all-up-for-you/
'Among Hugo Race's many artistic incarnations, Fatalists deserves special attention. It's rare for songs so simple and classic to convey so much emotion and reflection. This makes the release of the Australian's sixth album under this moniker even more exciting.
"I wanted to create something melodic and beautiful, despite our current reality..." – this is how the artist himself describes the new album, and it must be admitted that this declaration captures its essence. The ten compositions found here are a natural continuation of the path Hugo has been following under this name for many years. They were created during the musician's stay in an Italian mountain hut, where he spent two weeks composing solely on guitar. Hence their strictly song-based character. Embedded in the atmosphere of folk and Americana songwriting, they sometimes veer towards dreamlike blues or raw alternative guitar. However, the key here is Race's deep, expressive voice, with which he sings his personal stories.
Although the album is characterized by simplicity, its sound is rich with richness and musical detail. This was aided by the musicians he has worked with many times in the past, including drummer Diego Sapignoli and his frequent collaborator Michelangelo Russo (harmonica), as well as guests: violinist Massimiliano Gallo and American vocalist Jennifer Charles, known from the band Elysian Fields, who sang on two tracks. Each of them brings their own unique voice, making the compositions even more complete.
This album is a powerful antidote to our current reality, marked by rushing, anxiety, and daily fears. This less than an hour of music allows us not only to pause for a moment but also to catch our breath, listening to sounds filled not only with emotion and intimacy, but also with an artistic sincerity that is increasingly rare these days.'
Wojciech Żurek
Nitestylz.de, Germany, March 2026
'Over the course of roughly 44 minutes Race and a plethora of collaborating artists explore a surprisingly accessible yet still dark-ish and intimate fusion of alternative rock and echoes of Goth-leaning atmospheres. Probably one of the most AltPop and song-orientated releases on Gusstaff Records we can think of - and yet one that will end up in heavy roatation for more than one reason. Excellence is one. Go check.'
The Australian master of dark and murmuring music has treated us to another new album, which can easily be put in line for the prestigious title of album of the year.
Hugo Race releases albums faster than I listen to them. I've mentioned several times that I appreciate prolific artists who release something constantly; one could even venture to say that I prefer quantity over quality. It's a sign of our times – there are countless artists, and we have unfettered access to their entire catalog. And it's no wonder that with this unprecedented supply, the quality of records simply eludes us. Hugo is one of the creative Stakhanovites, as he simply makes a living from it, much like John Zorn, Aidan Baker, Masami Akita, or Steve Roach. The difference, however, is that Race's domain is traditional songwriting, not noise, ambient, or avant-garde jazz.
It's worth emphasizing that the quality of the albums Hugo Race releases across his various projects never falls below a certain level, guaranteeing their inclusion among the best albums of the year. This was the case recently with "100 Years," one of the best albums of 2024 and also one of the most interesting new releases I've heard in recent years. Was it listed on anyone's list of the year? I didn't notice. Am I still listening to it and experiencing it? It doesn't matter. There are plenty of such gems in the ash of everyday life, as Hugo's music fans know best. And they're about to get their hands on another one.
"I Made It All Up For You" is a much livelier album than "100 Years," less experimental, though still lingering in Hugo's typical twilight zone. As always, there's significant cinematic potential here, especially for fans of road movies and Lynchian dreamlike atmospheres. Each song is a letter-like account of a vagabond, traveling the world in his beat-up Dodge, a black guitar in the backseat. Race captivates with his voice, lyrics, sound, and storytelling, in which subsequent chapters build tension, anticipation, and dreaminess, leading to a final explosion of joy, catharsis, and reconciliation with the world in "Dream Country Home."
I Made It All Up For You – I made it all up, nothing here is true. And yet, it feels like a revelation, as Hugo croons his blues and pours this atmosphere directly into our hearts. This is an album that makes him even more of a romantic figure – an independent, wandering musician with a permanent record label in Poland and a loyal band of musicians in Italy. Their presence gives this album an organic warmth, folk dust, and a heartwarming quality unlike anything we've seen on "100 Years." This isn't the first time Hugo has clearly divided his music into solo experiments, the electric nature of True Spirit, and the acoustic style of Fatalists.
Listening to albums like "I Made It All Up For You" makes me feel like a better person, more satisfied with life, more enlightened, at peace with the world, in a balance between madness and nirvana. It's another of Hugo's small masterpieces, begging for a wider audience. But that's his style – he likes to sit in the shadows, where only the eyes and souls of the listeners directly notice him, even though these songs are open to everyone. And tracks like "Against the World," "I Tread Softly," "I Collide," and the album's best, "The Comet Drops," are their reward – the artist's thanks for their faithfulness, loyalty, and checking in on him.
JAKUB OŚLAK
https://timepastandtimepassing.wordpress.com/2026/03/22/8489/
I first came across Hugo Race in 2018 as a member of the genre and continent spanning Dirtmusic. His guitar and voice were also a part of Steve Kilbey’s incredible Speed Of The Stars. Classic Rock magazine have linked Race to a genre they are calling Australiana and there is a feel of both SOTS’ miasma and the rootsy dustiness of blissed ambient new country rock in I MADE IT ALL UP FOR YOU.
“Against The World” shimmers with the sound of bowed saws, with Italian band Fatalists sounding like The Willard Grant Conspiracy fronted by Low era Bowie. Hugo’s rumbling voice low in the swirl of the music is hypnotic. Race and Steve Kilbey are both masters of a vocal and rock drone mix that creates the feeling of being slightly out of it. “Broken Love” is a stunning duet between Hugo and Jennifer Charles, taken at a slow Velvet Undergound tempo the voices and guitars drift around you. Anchored by Diego Sapignoli’s restrained percussion.
“I Collide” puts the two voices together on an aching duet over Twin Peaks / Badalamenti ambience and Checco Giampaoli’s double bass. “I Tred Softly” starts as the ambience of the desert heat behind Race’s lyrics as he walks through the haze ruminating like Paris Texas’ Travis. The internal battles continue in “Born To Fly” and “Bad Dreams”, songs of escape where Country and David Sylvianesque looped guitar collide behind a Leonard Cohen rumble of a vocal. There is great tension between Race and Giovani Ferrario’s guitar strums and Massimiliano Gallo’s romantic strings.
“45 In The Shade” is a glorious outlaw Country Rock song with more of those huge valve amp guitar chords and circling drums while Hugo tells a tall tales in the lyrics. “Open Field” has a metronomic huge beat like a clock creating the feeling of contemplation and waiting behind the seething guitars and hypnotic vocal. “Comet Drops” and “Dream Country Home” are all beautiful picked guitar around a hissed apocalyptic love song with more lyrics about disappearing and escape.
Channelling a trance like Robert Foster vibe on the last song. You can sense the richly described landscape Race wants to escape into with his love. As his voice fades away behind Simone Sandrucci’s banjo there is the sense of a cinematic pan shot, pulling back from Hugo Race with his back to us, walking into the horizon filling wilderness.
Marc Higgins 22/03/26
Foto: Corrado Vasquez
https://writteninmusic.com/albumrecensie/hugo-race-fatalists-i-made-it-all-up-for-you/
March 2026
“After the completion of The Wreckery, the conclusion of Michelangelo Russo, and the collaboration with Charlie Risso, it is time for Hugo Race to embark on a new project, one in which tastemaker Michelangelo Russo is also involved: a new album by Fatalists, Hugo Race's Italian backing band. On I Made It All Up For You, the musician sounds considerably more relaxed than we are used to from him. The emphasis is no longer on the dark side of the blues. Only the melancholic The Comet Drops is a blues tribute; here, Hugo Race clings to that last glimmer of hope.
Sometimes you just have to let it happen. It all sounds so natural, but do not underestimate the contribution of the guest musicians. The fact that Hugo Race recently entered into a partnership with Steve Kilbey of The Church is clearly audible in Against the World. It is a fine mix of psychedelia, pop, and folk, with the ear-pleasing violin parts of Massimiliano Gallo. Jennifer Charles, for instance, is the perfect person to sing the duet *Broken Love* with. This singer shares the same penchant for the darker sides of life. Like Hugo Race, Jennifer Charles grapples with themes such as love, loss, and death. The duo sings about the consequences of a relationship on the brink of collapse. Sometimes you *feel* the emotional weight in a role-play like this. In such cases, you shouldn't add any extra words.
Charles is also featured on *I Collide*, although Francesco Giampaoli steals the show there with his double bass. His friend, fashion designer Alannah Hill, provides a large portion of the lyrics for this track, just as she did for *Broken Love*, giving it that extra feminine dimension. A beautifully gloomy murder ballad atmosphere surrounds *I Collide*. These are two beautiful songs about a hopeless, exhausting relationship.
*I Made It All Up For You* resembles a fever dream, where folk and country provide the backdrop. The role of storyteller suits Hugo Race well. Country is the most explicit genre for expressing desire. Born To Fly adds free-spirited folk elements to this. A ‘roots experience’ that brings Race back to his Australian roots. Down Under desert rock, dusty, with beautiful slide guitar solos and sparkling banjo playing. Hugo Race applies this foundation just as effectively to the Dream Country Home finale.
Hugo Race is the main character in I Tread Softly. Lonely, with ghosts from the past swarming around him like dark shadows. Hugo Race as a sponge who primarily receives love and absorbs it. A touch spiritual, but with that characteristic dark undertone. Here, it is primarily drummer Diego Sapignoli who asserts himself decisively.
Dreaming and musing, Hugo Race sets aside his fondness for the seamy side of existence in Bad Dreams. The dark legacy of The Bad Seeds thunders through the driven, eerie 45 in the Shade. Here, too, the temptations of life come to the fore. Hugo Race is prone to addiction, yet here he delivers a deliciously addictive, druggy sound. That menacing atmosphere also dominates in the strong, cinematic, David Lynch-esque *Open Field*.
The final farewell forms the main theme of *I Made It All Up For You*. Not only a farewell to what you love, but also to Australia. The musician moves to Italy to give that grief a place. Although Hugo Race may have invented *I Made It All Up For You*, the facts are nevertheless glaringly obvious.”
Convergence
Hugo Race and The One Star Gallery invite you to attend:
CONVERGENCE
A two-day only exhibition of photography by Hugo Race
Saturday 28th Feb 1-7pm, Spoken word introduction 3.00-3.30pm
Sunday 1st March 1-5 pm, Closing drinks and collection of purchased artwork 3.00-5.00pm
301-303 VICTORIA ST, WEST MELBOURNE 3003 PH. 0432357537
Fatalists
- Album & tour in 2026
The Vigil
100 Years
Speed of the Stars
While Italy Dreamed
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