Mark Sholtez

It's always a special moment when a songwriter finds their voice.

For Mark Sholtez that moment is captured with precision on his brand new full length album 'THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO TRUTHS'. It's an assured, accomplished record that delivers on the promise he's been threatening for years.

Sholtez surfaced on our radar with his 2006 jazz-inspired debut 'Real Street', (an ARIA Top 30 album and also debuting in the ARIA Jazz and Blues chart at 1 where it stayed for ten consecutive weeks, was nominated for an ARIA award in that same year, and in 2007 won him a converted APRA Music Award) . While an impressing calling card, lazy journalists pigeonholed Sholtez into the new 'Rat Pack' scene. With the benefit of hindsight, Sholtez realised the album didn't showcase his song-writing skills as it should.

"A lot of focus and attention was placed on the players and the improvised moments on the record and not as much as I would have liked on the songs."

When hitting the promotional trail for his debut Sholtez learned guitar to perform the songs everywhere from small clubs to rather large TV shows. It would be a pivotal turning point for what became 'THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO TRUTHS'.

"I knew a few monkey chords I'd use to write songs on guitar in the past, but playing guitar properly, definitely changed my songwriting. It changed the way I wrote, it changed the way I presented myself live and it really affected the feel of this album."

Sholtez had a vision of his second album. Charmed by his production work with Madeleine Peroux, he contacted American producer Larry Klein. They bonded over a shared love of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, early Springsteen and of Neil Young's Harvest.

"Classic American singer/songwriters was where we found a lot of common ground."

After one lengthy phone call they'd already decided they wanted to make a record together.

What happened next was Sholtez' heart-string-pulling demos reached the right ears and a new record contract with Warner was inked. Soon Sholtez was flying to LA to record with Klein at the cities' famed Sunset Sounds studio.

"The Doors, Beach Boys, Lennon and McCarntey, Bing Crosby, the first Van Halen albums - so much cool stuff has been made in there," Sholtez says.

Before long, Sholtez knew he'd made the right choice with Klein.

"He made the Peroux albums so rich with tradition and so beautifully timeless but somehow still very contemporary. That was a huge drawcard. I wanted to work with someone who understood the subtle jazz influences I have as well as the more contemporary pop influences - he's worked with Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman & Shawn Colvin among others. He had all the necessary skills and background I was interested in."

Simplicity was the key. Klein captured the right vibe by insisting on keeping many first takes.

"Larry's really into the preservation of imperfection. He kept the looseness of my songs from the demo. Everything was built around my guitar parts and the vocal melodies to try and make the record feel as if you were sitting in my lounge-room and I was on the couch playing you the songs acoustically. We built the rhythm section around that feel. Even in the complex moments it still has that cozy feeling. Anything that jumped out as sounding clever or quirky was taken out. We'd have ideas for a guitar part or backing vocals, but if it pulled you out of the core of the songs, it had to be removed. The focus was primarily on getting you into the song and keeping you there til the last lyric."

Those lyrics are Sholtez' most personal yet - inspired by some of his favourite musical storytellers.

"I've developed hugely as a songwriter since the first time around and everything feels allot more personal and real. The whole album, everyone else is locking into me playing and singing. On the first album I was singing on top of what was going on but the tempo and feels on this album come very naturally from me."

Sholtez wrote 80 songs between albums, and a few unexpected collaborations have made the final cut.

"The co-writes have all been accidental and interesting," Sholtez explains.

During a song-writing jaunt in London, Sholtez was waiting for a tardy musician when he bumped into Alex Lloyd who was walking into the same studio. He introduced himself, told him what he was doing and that they should write a song together. That track, 'A Thousand Lies', is the stunning introduction to a beautifully crafted album.

There's also 'This Is Where It Starts', written with Aqualung's Matt Hales, 'Kissed It All Away', penned with Australian songwriter Shane Nicholson, and 'We Could Get Lost' with Iain Archer, who co-wrote Snow Patrol's breakthrough album Final Straw.

The majority of this album though is made up of song crafted solely by Sholtez, including 'The Mystery of You' which has a percussive almost Graceland vibe.

"That started off as a song-writing challenge, I wanted to try and tell the story by using opposing language from verses to the chorus. The verses are very emotional and from the heart, in the chorus the language is very forensic."

Indeed, that duplicity is all over the album - which explains the title 'THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO TRUTHS'.

"This album is another version of me, it all seemed to make sense."

'THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO TRUTHS' due for release on July 9, 2010