Hugh Harris Is Beyond Category

“Black people hurt white people. . . . White people hurt black people. . . . White people help black people. . . . Black people don’t like white people. . . . White people don’t like black people. . . . And on and on.”

English singer/songwriter Hugh Harris spat out those lines with increasing speed and fury, like a rapper out of control.

Harris, who’s of Jamacian ancestry, was making a point about daily life festering with subtle racial tensions.

“I don’t like them,” said Harris, 25, whose first album, Capitol’s “Words for Our Years,” is just out. “I don’t let those tensions consume me. I don’t write a lot about race. That would be boring. But being aware of racial tensions makes you sharp, it heightens your sensibilities.”

Maybe that explains why his lyrics seem so full of insight and teem with such passion. His music doesn’t comfortably fit any category--it’s moody and soulful, laced with rock and folk. His best songs, characterized by his helter-skelter phrasing, are sad, somewhat bitter commentaries on the human condition.

“I couldn’t do music that can be easily categorized,” he pointed out. “Where’s the challenge? I never want to do music that every one else is doing. I’d die of boredom.”

Capitol Records took quite a chance on Harris, who has been involved in music only since the mid-’80s. It’s the latest in a series of careers that Harris, who’s from east London, has dabbled in since he left school at 15.

“I’ve tried this and that but nothing seemed right,” he said. “Music was just something to do. I never planned a career. I had been writing stuff down as songs since I was 20 but I’m not really a musician. But I gave myself a crash course when I had to learn certain things about music. I play a little piano, a little bass, a little guitar, but I’m not great at anything.”

Despite his limited musical experience, Capitol, which signed him because of his impressive songwriting, eventually let him co-produce his debut album. “I wanted a hand in the production,” he said. “I was afraid they might try to commercialize my music and fit me in this black category.”

To counter any preconceptions about his music, Harris didn’t want his picture on the album cover, which features just a silhouette of him. “If they see a black face, they expect a certain kind of music,” he explained. “If they see no face, they’ll take the music on its face value. I want people to listen to this album without preconceptions.”

Releasing a faceless album, however, is not a particularly wise marketing strategy. “Who cares about marketing?,” he said disdainfully. “If people like the album, they like it. If they don’t they don’t. I don’t worry about marketing.”

Harris doesn’t worry about his music career either.

“If it doesn’t work out I’ll do something else,” he said matter-of-factly. “I just need to express myself creatively--somehow. I know that about myself. I don’t have to be in the music business to do that. If I was never in the music business ever again I’m not sure that I’d miss it.”