Ten years after his first acclaimed release Straight No Chaser, Benjamin “Mr. Hudson” McIldowie is back and better than ever with his new masterpiece WHEN THE MACHINE STOPS!
Described as what the Birmingham, England native calls “Sad Robot Music”, the eleven track album is a cosmic journey through an atmospheric dreamscape that intertwines hip hop and catchy pop melodies with sci-fi moods. From the romantic vibes of “Your Religion” to the dismissal of counterfeit people and things on “Go Now” to the haunting rapture of “Black Mirror” to the melodic angst of “Chicago”, WHEN THE MACHINE STOPS is certainly one that captures the ears and heart.
Despite being inspired by icons like David Bowie, Greta Thunberg and Marvin Gaye, the ubiquitous producer, composer, singer and songwriter was never enticed by the music industry. His creative process was simply enhanced by his natural love for playing instruments, writing songs and touring. “Some of the best advice that I’ve ever received is to take the music seriously, but don’t take myself too seriously,” Hudson says.
“Sometimes I go the studio with a target in mind, but more often I let myself get lost in the computer and see what comes out of the speakers. “I lose all sense of time and space and get obsessed with the sonic details”. “I make lots of different genres of music as a producer, but when I’m working on my own stuff it always ends up being sad robot music,” Hudson says. Prior to the album’s release, Hudson has kept himself busy the past few years releasing a plethora singles including 2016’s “Here Comes The Night” featuring DJ Snake and 2017’s “Can’t Forget You” and “Coldplay” featuring Vic Mensa. 2018 was another fruitful year for Hudson as he sang the outro to “Cudi Montage”on Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s collaboration albumKids See Ghosts.
That same year he co-wrote Alexander DeLeon’s “Zombie Love”, Jonas Blue and Joe Jonas’ duet”I See Love” and Janelle Monae’s “Screwed” for her Grammy-nominated release Dirty Computer.
Recently, Mr. Hudson has been in the studio with John Legend and Goody Grace among others. With a stellar repertoire that is constantly growing, we definitely smell more hits in the future. However, Hudson would just rather take things in stride. “For some reason I gave up on plans a while back, he says.
“As the old saying goes, when men make plans God laughs”. “I just make a pot of coffee and hit the red button”. Happy accidents and experiments beat plans for me”.” As my old acting coach used to say “Don’t you dare walk on this stage with a plan”.
Keep up with Mr. Hudson on all of his social media outlets below:
