The General Project is the musical and literary work of New York based
Australian artist MJ Halloran.
The General Project Album (2014) is a record of 12 diverse and original tracks - an eclectic mix of raw and abrasive rock, rhythm and blues, heart-felt ballads, and experiments in atonality, discord and space.
The music is full of personal and intense words, images and messages, with a sound and performance that is organic and very live.
The line-up for The General Project is stellar; bringing together the song-writing talents of MJ Halloran and the musical prowess and creativity of Brian Henry Hooper, Stephen Boyle, Tim O'Shannassy & Josh Lee Hooker to create a record engineered by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago.
And the result is as you would expect: brilliant!
"The best rock and roll album I've heard this year. ..I'm so excited about this album" Ken Eavel, 3PBS FM
"On The General Project Michael Halloran offers a glimpse into a world tainted by emotional drama, self-loathing and frustration." 4/5 stars. Sydney Morning Herald National
"Y ese magnetismo y esa energía, ambos hipnóticos, ambos con la capacidad de dejarte aplastado entre el sofá a pocos metros de los altavoces, es el que desprende un disco como The General Project" Rio Rojo
"Me Soufle is a rich mixture of wry observation and social commentary, rendered with the unique Antipodean swamp rock wash European audiences continue to salivate over. In tracks such as I Wanna Be Loved and Approached By A Blind Man that Halloran is at his poetic best; the former is laden with pleas for emotional attachment, the latter lays bare the confronting reality of human indifference." Beat Magazine
"MJ Halloran divides his time between Melbourne and New York, with an assisting posse of Sinners in both cities. Mr. Halloran, I salute you! Totally brilliant (and my favourite) is 'Attentional Blink' – a bluesy swamp-rock hued number about the irony of love, while the seething 'Approached By A Blind Man' is as Beasts Of Bourbon as it gets, as Nick Cave as it gets, and also as poetic as it gets."I got rhythm going in me", declares Halloran on final track 'I'm The Man' and these are true words indeed (4/5)." Music News
"To say this record is good is definately an understatement. From the classic swamp rock riffs to the chilling lyrics of opener Love At My Expense, you know you are in for something different with this release." Deadbeat Records
Tracklist
Side A:
1 Perfect Sense
2 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
3 You Got Me Goin
4 Long Time Comin
5 Scorpion
6 I Hate People
Side B:
7 Two To Tango
8 Learn To Fly
9 Sweet Chastity
10 The Last Word
11 Yesterday Today Tomorrow
12 Doin It To The Man