Following the release of Tony Cohen's posthumous memoir HALF DEAF, COMPLETELY MAD: The Chaotic Genius of Australia's Most Legendary Producer, Augie March – whose 2018 album Bootikins was Cohen's final recording – have joined Romy Vager from RVG for a surprise re-imagining of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' 'Henry Lee' (featuring PJ Harvey).

‘The most obsessive, single-minded character I’ve ever seen, outside of the mirror’ – Nick Cave

‘I first met Nick Cave… at Richmond Recorders in January. I appeared shoeless, red-eyed and late. As usual. The grand piano was overflowing with bits of metal, microphone stands, anything that wasn’t nailed down. “That should sound interesting,” I said. It was the start of a great love affair’ – Tony Cohen

Maverick music producer-engineer Tony Cohen defined Australia’s punk and rock sounds in the late ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. His long and celebrated career took him from the studios of Melbourne and Sydney to West Berlin and London’s Abbey Road, working with innumerable bands until his death in 2017. In candid reflections, Tony shares details of his decades-long relationship with Nick Cave (The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and provides behind-the-scenes access to recordings by Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Cat Stevens, Jim Keays, Lobby Loyde, The Ferrets, Split Enz, Laughing Clowns, Models, Magazine, The Reels, The Go-Betweens, Hunters & Collectors, Cold Chisel, Beasts of Bourbon, The Saints, X, Michael Hutchence, The Cruel Sea, TISM, Paul Kelly and so many more. HALF DEAF, COMPLETELY MAD is a hilarious, tragic and triumphant memoir that reveals a chaotic genius who lived hard and LOUD.

'Henry Lee' is available all streaming platforms. It is the fifth in a series of releases which sees Australian artists interpret iconic songs originally recorded by Cohen, including Leah Senior’s 'Easy Come, Easy Go' (Grant McLennan), CIVIC's 'Chase the Dragon' (Beasts of Bourbon), Grace Cummings' 'Straight to You' (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Julia Jacklin's 'Shivers' (The Boys Next Door). Co-author John Olson says: 'These recordings highlight unique Australian artists and are a continuation of Tony’s career supporting independent music.'

From 1-5 Jan 2020 we did some basic tracks at a studio in Melbourne. It all got shelved soon after for obvious reasons. Mid-2021 I turned it into an album of sorts in my downtime. Most of it had been pretty much in the ground as far as I was concerned but it occurred to me that in order to kill off these past couple of zombie years you fight pale fire with pale fire, like for like, so it was all eventually quite fit for re-animation. I hope you get some good out of it and have a sweet time over the holidays. Take care from all of us at AM, xG

Tracklisting:
1. Clay
2. Bee Gone
3. The Animals
4. Cossack Tide
5. Comments are Closing
6. Bloodsport and Porn
7. The Derangement
8. The Scent of Power
9. Uncanny Island
10. Your Useful Idiot

Album number seven - Bloodsport & Porn.

Released: December 15, 2021

We’ve been supplied with a vid for The Scent of Power by an anonymous VideoPad savant who clearly wasn’t happy with our output to date, and fair enough, there’s been none.

It’s an unusual visual take on a song about one-upmanship in the savage realm of xmas garden parties in Portsea, (plague edition), but copy paste artists will be copy paste artists and we’re just pleased to have some content to burn for five minutes.

Hope you don’t get doxxed and destroyed by the long, diseased arm of the oligarchy, brave preset fx champion.

Limited edition LP and CD, plus digital, available exclusively via the Augie March shop.

Additionally available via streaming services.

Thanks to The Guardian who featured Clay within their Best New Music for January.

Glenn Richards weaves the most delicate melodies on which to drop his weighty lyrical concepts: on love, life, loss and all the other big Ls that have concerned poets for millennia. Augie March has never betrayed a sense of their own time, with ornate arrangements, antiquated language and songs that slowly unfurl as if being pedalled out through a dusty pianola roll. The result is a masterful next chapter for one of Australia’s true treasures.

Preview The Derangement here: