by FilmInk Staff
Ft. FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK
The debut single from third LP ‘Farewell Helldorado’ – The Dangerous Motion Picture Soundtrack to a Western that Never Existed. (out January 29, 2027, via Fight Night Records)
Through The Olde River Grande, Melbourne’s notorious 12-piece Spaghetti Western posse The Counterfeit tell the story of a mighty river that brings the great mountain to its knees and takes the canyon as its own. The lifeblood of the Old West, the old river feeds the land and every living thing on it, guiding travellers towards the last light in the West.
Following two acclaimed LPs and two live EPs devoted to legendary Italian Western scores, Farewell Helldorado marks a defining moment: The Counterfeit’s first entirely original body of work, staking their claim on a cinematic Western world of their own and casting frontier heroine Hurricane Lilah at the centre of a genre traditionally dominated by male gunslingers.
Ballarat’s Most Wanted Woman, Freya Josephine Hollick, lends her spellbinding voice to the character. Unmistakably her own yet impossible to place in time, it could be a voice from today or one drifting in from a bygone era.
The Olde River Grande comes from sessions recorded primarily live as a 12-piece ensemble at the posse’s HQ, Fight Night Records, straight to analogue tape with no computer. It captures the full posse playing together, giving the number the sweep of a Western score with Hollick’s voice at its centre.
Released alongside it is B-side ‘Son of a Gunfighter’, a delicate Western duel between the posse’s barrelhouse piano player, Mr John McAll, and chromatic harmonica Lord Chris Maunders, introducing the villain of the tale.
TOUR DATES
The posse will launch Farewell Helldorado at Northcote Theatre on 7 February 2027 for their biggest show to date, alongside a regional date at Story House Theatre in Geelong Arts Centre – all shows are on sale and selling fast.
Tickets via venue websites.
Stream / Download The Olde River Grande
Stream / Download Son of a Gunfighter
