The Mission frontman/Sisters Of Mercy guitarist Wayne Hussey has been busy of late. As well as the forthcoming release of a collaborative album of covers with All About Eve singer Julianne Regan, Curio, he’s putting out a version of Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and, somewhat bizarrely, has been covered by X Factor showroom dummy Rhydian.
Hussey and Regan’s Curio is due for release on November 7th, under the elegantly utilitarian name of Hussey-Regan. As well as including versions of songs by the likes of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and David Bowie, it also features Hussey and Regan each offering their own takes on one of the other’s songs – The Mission’s ‘Naked & Savage’ and All About Eve’s ‘Calling Your Name’. Oh, and a take on the perennially brilliant ‘Wichita Lineman’.
"Wait till you hear that, it’s gorgeous," Hussey said to us recently, in an interview due to be published in full tomorrow. "Seriously, it may be where I’m at with my age and that, but I really do think that’s one of the best things I’ve ever recorded. Both of our voices sound great on that, and as far as I know it’s never really been done as a duet before, where it’s a conversation between a man and a woman. So it’s quite unique in that sense. I’m not one for blowing my own trumpet, but it’s a great version, I think."
With Hussey living in Brazil and Regan in London, it took shape over a long period of time, passing skeletal arrangements back and forth until they became fully-fleshed tracks. "There was never a deadline, never a schedule, it was just something that we did in our spare time, and it kind of evolved," Hussey said. "It just started off as, we’ll see what happens, you know. We started off recording ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ for a project that she was doing, but that fell through, so she had the track, but she didn’t know what to do with it. So we thought, let’s do some more, see what happens. And here we are, two and a half years later. It’s not really two and a half years work – it’s pieces here, and when we feel like it, and when we have the time to do it."
As a long-time fan of the club, Hussey has also recorded a version of Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as part of a charity release to raise money for Hope For Heroes. It should see release around the end of October. "[They’re] asking artists and has-beens – that’s me! – to record the songs of their favourite football club," said Hussey. "So basically they might have four or five artists recording for Liverpool, and then the same for Manchester United, and Chelsea, and Arsenal. They’re going to enlist the help of the clubs themselves as well, and they’re putting, if there’s four Liverpool songs for instance, they’ll bundle them together as a single, and they’ll release all of that concurrently."
Meanwhile, startlingly angular X-Factor puppet Rhydian covered The Mission’s ‘Tower Of Strength’ for his recent album Waves. According to Hussey, it’s likely to be released as the album’s second single, which will also include a remixed version featuring Hussey’s own vocals duetting with Rhydian’s dulcet tones. "I actually quite like it," admitted Hussey. "I never envisaged ‘Tower Of Strength’ as being camp and gay. But it worked really well, and my wife and I ended up dancing round the kitchen to it."
Keep your ears to the ground for that one. Our full interview with Hussey is due to be published tomorrow – watch this space.
