"Everybody wants to touch me"

ALBUM RELEASE + Live Show (Sydney Nov 11)
Album thru Black Yak Records in stores Saturday October 13, 2007

“Whether swooning with soul, or belting it out like a bruise,
Capsis’ turbo-powered voice makes each tune his own” Sunday Telegraph

“Capsis did more than uplift; he had the audience almost levitating with sheer delight.” The Age

Paul Capsis has donned many guises during his time in the spotlight as Australia’s most loved cabaret artist and extraordinary channeller of tragic divas from Judy to Janis or as an inspirational and award-winning actor in film and theatre.

With Everybody Wants to Touch Me, his first studio album (and the accompanying live shows), Capsis wipes off the make-up and steps up to the mic as himself - and simply sings with a voice described as an ‘act of God’ that traverses the octaves with ease and is visceral in its emotional impact.

“Its like I’ve waited my whole career to make this album. It is about my voice and being myself, not impersonating others. When I first started performing these songs I felt like I was walking on stage nude but then I felt an amazing sense of relief and freedom. It was a dream I almost gave up on but people like Philip Mortlock, Tim Freedman, Kevin Kehoe and Alister Spence have enabled me to realise it. I’m incredibly proud of this album,” says Paul.

On Everybody Wants to Touch Me Capsis interprets songs from the full spectrum of his inspirations - from the hip swaying gospel of ‘I’m on My Way’ to the breathtaking pathos of Sonny Bono’s ‘Bang Bang’ to a 60’s psychedelic rock version of The Supreme’s ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’. Songwriters as diverse as Prince, Mahalia Jackson, Franz Schubert and Australians Paul Kelly (title track), Don Walker and Sarah McGregor all share room on the album. It also includes two of Capsis’ own songs - the exquisite ‘Angela’s Sea’, a heartbreaking snapshot of the migrant experience and a beautiful homage to Capsis’ beloved grandmother as well as the rock riff and gutsy ‘Red Door’.

Developed from live shows with the same stellar band line-up featured on the album (Lloyd Swanton, Carl Dewhurst, Toby Hall) recorded in Sydney and the Byron Bay hinterland, Everybody Wants To Touch Me brings together brilliant pianist and arranger Alister Spence with producer Kevin Kehoe whose inspired touch can be heard on tracks such as ‘Bang Bang’ and ‘Subway’.

Make sure you catch Paul Capsis in this mode before he reincarnates again! Capsis will be performing one solo show at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Nov 11 before appearing in Sydney Theatre Company’s Tales From The Vienna Woods (Nov 13 – Dec 15) and then as Riff Raff in the new stage version of cult classic Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show from Feb 2008.

ONLY SYDNEY SHOW!
Sunday Nov 11, 2007 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Box Office on 02 9550 3666 or www.ticketek.com.au

Paul Capsis website www.capsis.org or www.myspace.com/paulcapsis
Black Yak Records www.blackyakrecords.com

Media enquiries: Clare McGregor on 0418 192 524 or claremcg@bigpond.net.au