Released in February 2012, Hijack’s EP, Rise, is the 10th collaborative effort in 20 years between songwriters Andre Calilhanna and Jack Gilespie. This marks their third release as Hijack, joining 2008′s Illusions and 2004′s Planetary Missionary. All instruments and tracks on the album were recorded by Andre (drums, vocals) and Jack (guitar, bass), though live, Hijack’s rhythm section features Kris Ohrenick on bass and the mighty Steve Delaney on drums.
The first full band featuring Calilhanna and Gillespie was Flesh Tuxedo, who released a self-titled album in 1994. Lowjack followed Flesh, and Hijack rose from the ashes of Lowjack. Some of Lowjack’s tracks found their way onto the home-recorded Planetary Missionary demo – the first project to bear the Hijack name. The duo also completed and released Jack’s third solo CD, TS3, and Andre’s first, so.low.dre.
Immediately after the release of the trio of albums, Andre and Jack began writing and recording new songs and laid down the basic tracks for Illusions. “I guess you could say Illusions freed us up,” says Jack. “We didn’t worry about how things were supposed to fit. We didn’t have an agenda. We just wrote what was coming out of us at the time and I think it shows in the arrangements and vibe of the album.”
“Rise is the next step,” says Andre of the new EP. “This CD doesn’t sound much like the last ones did, but there are moments in every song that epitomize the best of what we’ve been doing over the last 20 years.”
Read more...