A jam session at a Sydney rehearsal studio earlier this year produced eight songs and set the template for their ninth studio record. All four band members were pole-axed by the lightning bolt moments that brought singer and songwriter Dave Faulkner's songs to life from his demos.

Even the songwriter himself says there must have been some rock 'n' roll magic at work when "Crackin' Up," the album's first single, arrived almost fully formed in a dream.

"It's only ever happened before once in my life where I have actually dreamed a song. I woke up and had the melody, all the chords and the title, walked out of my room and told the friends who were staying with me not to talk to me while I found my little cassette recorder and put the song down," Faulkner says.

The serendipity continued when the frontman brought the song to the band.

"During that day, there were so many songs and sounds coming out that we'd never done before," he observes. "They had the classic Gurus feel but it was different even though we weren't pushing ourselves to do something different. But on this particular magic day, it all happened. It was the most memorable day in the rehearsal room that the band has ever had."

The resulting inspiration resulted in more good songs than they could reasonably fit onto one CD. But, as Faulkner says, "Dammit, let's just put 'em all on. The good news is that there is such a diversity of styles — from punk à la the Ramones to dare-I-say pretty songs and some guilty pleasures — that it doesn't get repetitive."

Speaking of the Ramones, the Gurus reunited with old friend Ed Stasium (and former Ramones producer) to mix Purity of Essence. The album was co-produced by the band with Charles Fisher, producer of two classic Hoodoo Gurus albums, Mars Needs Guitars and Blue Cave. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound with the exception of "Crackin' Up," which was mastered by Don Bartley. The album cover is a large-scale painting by Doug Bartlett.

Immediately upon completing the album, the Hoodoo Gurus set upon shooting a number of videos and "webisodes," including a "mockumentary" about the making of the album. These videos may be seen on YouTube, and the "Crackin' Up" video may be seen at .

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