“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE
First there was ELECTRONIC with the nucleus of Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr plus occasional guests Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe and Karl Bartos, but there is a new supergroup in town and they are called DOUBLESPEAK.
Their self-titled album began in 2017 as a collaboration with BLANCMANGE’s Neil Arthur and Vince Clarke of ERASURE; the pair had known each other for many years since the latter’s DEPECHE MODE days and it was while holidaying together in Tenerife that they each came up with the idea of covering ABBA while listening to a cassette of their compilation ‘The Singles: The First Ten Years’. There was also an aborted joint YAZOO and BLANCMANGE recording of ‘It Takes Two’, a song made famous by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, as well as a version of ‘Who Needs Love Like That’ intended for THE ASSEMBLY on which Arthur provided vocals.
So Arthur and Clarke joined forces to put a unique spin on songs from the past with the oldest coming from 1967. The third man brought in to get DOUBLESPEAK over the line is synth-auteur Ben ‘Benge’ Edwards who had worked with Arthur on BLANCMANGE and FADER albums as well as collaborating with John Foxx, John Grant and Stephen Mallinder of CABARET VOLTAIRE.
With songs from post-punk, country, easy listening, mainstream pop and DIY synth, DOUBLESPEAK reimagine the familiar and reinvigorate the little-known or forgotten for an electronic pop audience. It was Arthur who chose and dissected the majority of the songs but with those that were previously unknown to Clarke or Benge, the pair treated them as thought they were new compositions and avoided referring back to the originals.
Opener ‘Back To Nature’ is a fine tribute to Fad Gadget but with a tougher menace although the original was electronic, this is perhaps the least essential of the set. ‘Day Breaks, Night Heals’ by Thomas Leer and Robert Rental which was another cult favourite from that same trailblazing British DIY synth era of 1979 fairs better attached to a more futuristic dance beat. These are 2 songs which may not necessarily be known among BLANCMANGE and ERASURE fans, so if their inclusion on this DOUBLESPEAK album provokes curiosity and further investigation, that is a positive.
However ‘Rock On’ gets a fabulous new vision, the David Essex international smash has its original dub-ish bass recast as a bent icy squelch while Neil Arthur takes the vocal down to something more deadbeat sinister. From 1980, the rhythmic backdrop of THE SOUND’s ‘I Can’t Escape Myself’ goes metal on metal as the scratchy guitar-driven original now cuts synthetically while the angsty spirit gets a baritone twist… this is what doing electronic covers is all about!
ABBA’s stark take about political dissidents awaiting arrest ‘The Visitors’ was suggested by Clarke. In 1981 just across the Baltic sea from Sweden were Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which were then part of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc dissidents would plan their escape to the then-neutral country; DOUBLESPEAK do the song justice to the original by retaining the Cold War tension of its dark lyric whilst eschewing the original synth melody.
Having been demoed by BLANCMANGE and released as a bonus track for the 2018 boxed set ‘The Blanc Tapes’, Neil Arthur gets a proper go at ‘Gentle On My Mind’; a country song written by John Hartford and recorded by Dean Martin, Glen Campbell, Val Doonican and ‘Switched On Nashville’ exponent Gil Trythall, our hero gets into his crooner sweater and rocking chair. With Clarke providing a very simple and slower synth riff as its centre, as the cross melodies sweep in, the end result is otherworldly.
Fronted by Alison Statton, Welsh independent trio YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS were music press darlings back in the day with their only album ‘Colossal Youth’ released on Rough Trade; the originally plaintive ‘Brand New Life’ gets a gentle minimal rearrangement. Already quite electronic, THE MAGNETIC FIELDS ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ from 1995 actually sounded like BLANCMANGE in its original form but DOUBLESPEAK give it a bounce, a bleep and a buzz for something quite delightful in that classic Vince Clarke vein for the best track on the album.
A MOR standard that has also been covered by Midge Ure, THE CARPENTERS’ ‘Goodbye To Love’ is an interesting choice with the lush backdrop forsaken for an avant pop tapestry. Credit where credit is due for uncovering it to the extent that it becomes almost unrecognisable with Arthur’s electronically treated voice adding another twist.
From more comparatively recently, it’s not difficult to imagine experimental singer-songwriters Ed Dowie’s ‘Richard!’ being released on Factory Records back in the day. So with the early comparison often made with Neil Arthur’s vocals to Ian Curtis, this is apt and comes through the dark with a purposely off-key vocal that is saved by the bells and the crisp synth lines.
A fitting thematic closer, ‘End Credits’ by LAPTOP from 2001 is given a slightly pacier tempo; written by New York-based indie electronic composer Jesse Hartman, the lyrics refer to being dumped via an answerphone message so make perfect foil for Neil Arthur’s cynical delivery. Swathed in icy string machine, it suits him so much that it could easily be mistaken for a post-2011 BLANCMANGE song.
‘Doublespeak’ is a strangely connected record despite being largely made remotely over a long period of time by three people who were never in the same room with Clarke and Benge having never met in person. Most of the choices of song are interesting if nothing else and the end result is an enjoyable listen for anyone who likes synths and covers.
‘Doublespeak’ is released by London Records, available as a vinyl LP, CD and download
HUE & CRY have surprised all by expanding their sonic palette and going “electro” on their new album ‘Everybody’.
While best known for their sophistipop hits ‘Labour Of Love’ and ‘Looking For Linda’, Pat and Greg Kane have not stood still and embraced the sound of DeepMind arpeggiators, hydrasynths, wavetables and classic drum machines for a rawer aesthetic and an unexpected weirdness.
Much of the writing took place pre-Covid between 2018 and 2020, and with the emotional turbulence he was going through, Pat suggested making an electronic record to Greg, initially referencing David Bowie’s ‘Low’. As well as influences from the earlier phases of SIMPLE MINDS and THE HUMAN LEAGUE, the album also features excursions into Latin House and Future Disco.
Acting as the enticing first single and album opener, ‘Stronger’ is mighty with its message of resilience and hope, all swathed in complex bass sequences, atonal arpeggios and sweeping resonances to “let the softest kind of power make me stronger”. But there’s an even bigger surprise is the frantic Germanic 194 BPM thrust of ‘Everybody Deserves To Be Loved’, the result of experiments with Moogs of the DFAM and Subsequent 37 variety.
The housey ‘Make My Day’ and ‘And Then You Bloom’ both allow Pat to play with his more soulful sensibilities and Greg in his familiar jazzier place, but on the other side of the coin, the synth bassline of ‘In Our Ruins’ recalls DALEK I LOVE YOU’s ‘Two Chameleons’ which OMD used to cover live in their earlier days; it’s a nod to old synth TV theme tunes and the quirkiness exudes its own charm.
‘Force Majeure’ pushes a beat and a pulse with an uplifting musical backdrop despite having something darker going on lyrically while there’s a playful PET SHOP BOYS vibe to ‘Kinda Blue, Kinda Love’. Closing the album, ‘Broken Gods’ utilises more avant sonics in its cutting detuned synth to provide yet another surprise to those who have never listened to a HUE & CRY album before.
Like their contemporaries JOHNNY HATES JAZZ, BLACK and PREFAB SPROUT who applied modern music technology to each of their brands of sophistipop, HUE & CRY’s transition into “electro” is not perhaps not as surprising as first perceived. With its future-facing lyrical subjects that confront powerlessness, polarisation, climate change, authoritarianism and technological overreach, jagged synthesizers and drum machines are the ideal vehicle for these messages where in the world of HUE & CRY, ‘Everybody’ matters…
‘Everybody’ is released on 29th May 2026 as a limited-edition ultimate collector’s box set, CD, vinyl LP and digital download
HUE & CRY 2026 live dates include:
Manchester Bridgewater Hall (9th October)*, London, IndigO2 (10 October)*, Cambridge Corn Exchange (11th October)*, Birmingham Symphony Hall (16th October)*, Gateshead ICM Glasshouse Sage 1 (17th October) **, Inverness, Eden Court (22nd October)**, Aberdeen Music Hall (23 October)**, Edinburgh, Usher Hall (24 October)**, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (30th October)***, Perth Concert Hall (31 October)***
* Co-headline with ROACHFORD
** Special guest: ROACHFORD
*** Special guests: JOHNNY HATES JAZZ
Featuring the hit singles ‘6 Underground’ and ‘Spin Spin Sugar’, SNEAKER PIMPS’ 1996 album ‘Becoming X’ turned out to be quite prophetic for one of its members Chris Corner.
While he would take on lead vocals after Kelli Ali’s departure on the subsequent albums ‘Splinter’ and ‘Bloodsport’, Chris Corner would soon venture out on his own as IAMX.
After the 2004 debut IAMX long player ‘Kiss & Swallow’, Corner relocated from London to Berlin which proved to be the ideal backdrop for the recording of ‘The Alternative’, ‘Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction’ and ‘Volatile Times’; this trilogy captured an electro Gothic aesthetic that combined the theatrics of Weimar Cabaret with themes of sex, alienation and dependency with strongly melodic songs swathed in an accessible grandeur.
Also a visual artist who has directed for Gary Numan, after making videos in Los Angeles to accompany the singles ‘Come Home’ and ‘I Come With Knives’ from the album ‘The Unified Field’ which brought in Jim Abiss (who had engineered ‘Becoming X’) as co-producer, Corner relocated there in 2014. The West Coast of the USA has been his creative base since and led to very productive period with ‘Metanoia’, ‘Everything Is Burning’, the instrumental record ‘Unfall’, ‘Alive In New Light’, the ‘Echo Echo’ acoustic album, ‘Machinate’ and the two volume ‘Fault Lines’ series among the works released.
Continuing his unconventional creative public therapy, Corner embarks on another European tour as IAMX to coincide with the release to streaming platforms of the previously tour-exclusive 4 track EP ‘UNMASK’ and the remix collection ‘IAMIXED’.
Chris Corner kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about his career to date and his transition into darker alternative electronic sounds to herald his next creative chapter.
You moved to Berlin in 2006 and then Los Angeles, how important has location been to your creative mindset?
Super important. It’s been essential to my stability, mental health, creative flow, and finding my purpose and my place. Environment is very important to me.
I lived a lot of years in the city and I thought it was kind of sexy and exciting and cool, but in the end, it pretty much led to a breakdown and mental health crisis. It wasn’t just the city, it was like combined city stimuli and overwork and existential crises and all of those combined.
I’ve moved from London to Berlin, that was a great move. Again, it was like each one was sort of relieving mental pressure, I think. And arriving finally here, which is very much just pure nature, is just what I’ve always been looking for.
I moved from Berlin to LA, spent a few years there, and then ended up in the desert out near Joshua Tree. First, spent a few years there, kind of indulging that kind of alien space and just sort of stayed in the area.
I still have everything here. I still have my creative spaces and I still have parties and people come out and still do all of those human things. But I think that quick and easy access to the universal feeling is what I’ve always been looking for. That shows in my, not necessarily in the work or the quality of the work, but just the life feeling that I’m carrying now. And it’s been essential.
Although you have always used synths, what prompted the shift into darker electronic sounds and use of modular hardware?
As much as I love analog and digital synths, there’s this sort of workflow that always felt limiting and a little bit strict. You know, you always have oscillators, you always have frequency modulation, you always have this, you always have that, a filter. In fact there’s a certain structure that is a little bit limiting.
The beauty of modular and this modular mindset is this sort of limitless, experimental way of piecing things together. I’ve always been looking for that, whether it be inside the box with plugins and digital synths and things like that, or outside.
When modular came into my life, it was introduced to me by cEvin Key from SKINNY PUPPY. It just opened this doorway into another space of electronic music that I’d always been yearning for, a more organic, creative, immediate space while also being hands on. A little bit like when you sculpt things.
I still feel like humans need to sort of be in contact with what they’re doing. And that’s one of the frustrating things about always working in computers, that we miss this tactile thing. Modular gave that back to me in a weird way because obviously I grew up with electronic music, but also I’m a guitarist and I have a traditional instrument background. And I can play piano and write songs in those ways. So modular brought a bit of organic energy into that electronic realm. The spontaneity and unpredictability of it made it feel more human than anything else.
What are your favourite electronic tools at the moment for the creative and production process?
There’s a really superb modular piece of gear called Morphagene, which is basically a granular sampler. It’s very expansive in its scope and you can do incredible things with it, manipulate things that you put into it in very, very unpredictable and otherworldly ways.
That’s a great thing, and it’s also a hands-on thing. In the box, if I’m working on my laptop or on my desktop computer, in my digital audio workstation, I would be using plugins like Portal. It’s a very interesting plugin by Output, an effects unit, but it also reacts in very unpredictable ways. And then I’ve got traditional mods of traditional synthesizers, like the SEM by Arturia.
I’m always looking for something that is pretty much going to surprise me.
How did excellent songs on ‘UNMASK’ like ‘Artificial Innocence’ and ‘There Will Be Times When I Will Need To Hurt You’ come to be left off the ‘Fault Lines’ albums series?
They weren’t ready when those albums were being finished. They were always on the periphery, not quite lyrically part of that story. For instance, ‘There Will Be Times When I Need To Hurt You’ was an incomplete song from many, many years ago. I started that in my time in Berlin, so that’s how old that one is, ancient. But it never made it onto any of the albums. It just wasn’t complete.
Certain things get thrown to the back of the room and you just sort of forget about them actually. There are many moving parts, particularly if you’re producing your own music and you’re working by yourself all the time. There’s nobody else to sort of reflect what could be. You’re kind of responding to the moment quite often. And it’s only now and again you have this feeling of like, “Oh, I need to really be organised and figure out what the hell I have here.”
But most of the time I’m really just working within my own head. I’m very unorganised in that machine. It’s just the way that I’ve always done things. It’s always, if I can keep it all in my head, then it must be relevant for what it is now, rather than thinking I should crowbar something in. So that’s my theory, that I subconsciously know what needs to go on that album. Those songs were just floating around.
When we tried to do the more fractured approach of releasing things in between albums, not necessarily being so structured about it, ‘Artificial Innocence’ was also kind of bugging me. I knew there was something special in it that I wanted to explore, and it wasn’t quite finished. So they just came to the surface.
And really, if I’m honest, sometimes by accident I accidentally find something that I’d forgotten about. And ‘There Will Be Times…’ was one of those tracks where I just found it and then realised, “Oh, it’s not gonna take that much to bring this into my modern self”. So yeah, it’s a bit of accident, it’s a bit of knowing, it’s a bit of different timing with those two tracks.
How do you look back the making of your two ‘Fault Lines’ albums?
It’s a combination of dread and pride. It’s been a super chaotic time personally. So the fact that those albums were able to be made at all, I’m pretty proud of. Cause there’s a lot of life distractions, but in it there’s a lot of intimacy and privacy that I just can’t help but write about. That’s how I always am.
So I’m not looking too deep into that right now. I think in a few years I’ll look back and try and process this with a bit more clarity and distance. But generally, I’m proud of them.
Even though I can always pick apart my work and say, “Yes, I see that is flawed because of this” or “That’s great because of this” sometimes you just have to complete and move on. That’s generally a high priority for me. I don’t think too much about perfectionism in the bigger picture, even though there is a certain element of perfectionism within the technicality of doing my work.
For me, it’s more about prioritising movement and getting things out. Sometimes I’ll hit it really well with a whole record, and sometimes maybe not. I’m pretty proud of all my work, so I’m proud of those too.
‘The Truth (Mimetic Hexes Rework)’ is really good, so for ‘IAMIXED’, how did you choose which songs to have reworked and did you set a brief for the various remixers or did you give them total interpretive freedom?
How do we pick them? Probably a mixture of randomness and some kind of personal need to exorcise my ghosts. I think ‘The Truth’ was super precise in its meaning about what was happening at the time to me privately. So I felt like I needed that to go on. It was super relevant to me. And then other ones are more like, “Well, that’s just a banger, so let’s do that”.
I also left a couple of choices to the remixers where they could decide which track they wanted to do. Like the Holy Braille track, I think they decided they wanted to do ‘Disciple’. So it was a combination of those things.
‘The X ID’ (clubdrugs Rework) is really good and might be the best of the ‘IAMIXED’ set, but is there a favourite for you?
It depends on my mood, depends on what I’m doing in the day, depends where my head is. If I’m driving along the road and suddenly I remember, “Oh, that’s that song,” and I like that. I think they’re all amazing. And I’m not just being kind of an ass-kissing, people pleaser. I truly believe that.
What is the lot of the independent artist now? You have proved it can work but what have been the pitfalls?
Yeah, surviving as an indie artist is exceptionally challenging. I think the hardest thing is the financial insecurity. You’re basically selling a product that is unpredictable, and you’re selling a product that’s based on culture and art. It’s a vague product if you do it in a way that is not a commercial cash grab. If you do it with your heart, culture changes, technology changes, everything’s changing all the time, and the pace of things is accelerated.
The biggest challenge is adapting, and the constant anxiety about having to adapt just to be able to sell a product, and being aware of that fact. I could say, “Well, maybe I should just always think about writing hits…” but I’m not in it for that.
You have to really balance this feeling of survival with love. That’s the sticky thing about being in the art business of any kind. Everybody’s looking for authenticity, unless it’s pop sh*t of course, but to have authenticity, you can’t constantly compromise for financial security. So what if my own authenticity isn’t sellable? Then what does that mean? Does that mean I have to change myself, change my product?
The anxiety is a bit of an engine, and it does drive you to improve your methods. I don’t think it necessarily improves your art, because it can add a level of doubt all the time if you’re not financially successful. I don’t like that about the music business, because I’ve met many incredible people over the years, and they’ve made incredible art and sold nothing. But I guess that’s just life. It’s an unpredictable, wishy-washy, intangible business. We’re constantly grabbing for what we can know about it and understand to make the best move.
There’s no structure apart from the structure that you make yourself. So you’re constantly creating your own industry in a way. Nobody ever comes to you and says, “You’re doing this”. You just have to create it on every level — not just the music these days. You have to create everything: content, tours, so much. That’s the lot of the indie artist.
How are you handling today’s social media world in terms of the IAMX brand, have you accepted and altered your approach over the years?
No, I haven’t accepted it. I wish I did. And I’m trying. We’re trying to dig a bit deeper now, experiment with a bit more of a creative approach to respond in different ways. I’m trying to get my head into it more.
It’s always been lacking because I hate it. I can say that with certainty. I’ve questioned whether I hate it or I’m just avoiding it and being lazy, but I think I just hate it. It’s just not attractive to me, the whole thing. I’m trying to find a way in, to be able to provide what I do best—which is the content to a certain degree—and to be mildly connected to it. I think a social media person needs to be good at doing that, but also have this deeper connection to the creativity of the project that’s happening. It needs to be very responsive.
It’s a difficult thing to find, because I don’t know if anybody likes social media anymore. Does anybody like it or is it just a grinding poison? I don’t know. It’s a very strange area, that whole thing. It offers a lot — well, it promises a lot all the time. It’s constantly promising you this thing, and that’s the addiction. You think that you can promote yourself massively, and you can grow, and you can do these things, and there’s always possibility, but it doesn’t quite do it unless you’re doing fucking rage bait or something like that. So I question the whole thing.
I will continue to try to lean in. In the past I’ve just sort of cut myself off and didn’t do anything. Neither did it create some kind of mythical character of “Oh, he’s so mysterious and great, I’m gonna follow him”. That didn’t work either. So it’s like, okay, you’re either there or you’re not.
There used to be a time when artists and musicians could just not do interviews, not do anything publicly, and that would make it more interesting or attractive. Unfortunately, I don’t think those days exist anymore. I think those days are dead. So yeah, I’m trying.
Do songs such as ‘President’ and ‘Think Of England’ (which you haven’t performed for a while) still resonate with you, especially with the various tensions and flashpoints around the world?
Yeah, they do. I’m pretty proud of quite a few of those old songs in terms of how they’ve held up lyrically. I think there is a certain timelessness to what they’re talking about. Some things have changed, but generally it’s always talking a little bit about the human condition in general.
So until AI takes over everything, I think we’re still gonna be connected to those things that those songs are always talking about. The yearning for change, critique of people in power, all those things. Gender interest too. When I was talking about my own androgyny and all that kind of stuff, I did not think culture would go there. So gender interest, that’s definitely a nice surprise. There’s definitely topics in there that I’m glad have held up.
In 2011, you talked of ‘Volatile Times’ so is it timely to bring songs like ‘Ghosts Of Utopia’ and ‘Music People’ back or are you wholly focussed on moving forward?
Sometimes I catch a glimpse or a memory and ‘Ghosts of Utopia’ might come into my head, and I’m like, “Oh sh*t, that’s pretty cool”. Talking about the divided hearts of America, and that was before Trump. Politics is just a reflection of our worst intentions, right? So it’s not rocket science in a way.
I remember working on ‘Volatile Times’ and the records — I don’t know if it’s the same for other artists — because I produce everything, they deeply consume me for years. So I do like to go back to certain things. But as a whole, I feel like I exhaust most possibilities with them, spiritually at least, and then I move on.
Maybe with a lot of time. Like with a track like ‘Bernadette’, I feel like I want to go and tweak that now. But I definitely grind them into the ground when I’m working on them. They consume my whole life and my being.
I often don’t feel like I need to go back to them, possibly for live, but live is more of a response to mood as well. It’s usually building upon what’s happened on the previous tours, adding bits and bobs. It’s rarely a whole revamp of everything.
So was ‘Bernadette’ from ‘Volatile Times’ someone you knew?
Yes.
One song that still remains in your setlist is ‘Spit It Out’, why do you think that one endures?
Maybe it’s because I feel like I never finished it and it bugs me to hell that I keep wanting to try and it’s never done. People like it. I don’t know if they necessarily like it in the way that I think they do. It’s difficult to know. I don’t always have a clear perspective on what it’s all about.
People like to sing along in the chorus. It’s one of those things that you see elevates people during the show, but other tracks do too. It could just be that it’s a kind of toxic worm in my brain that won’t get out and I need to keep chipping away at it. Or maybe it’s just a good song. I don’t know.
You once did a cover of DURAN DURAN’s ‘The Chauffeur’ and even performed it at an event in Japan with Simon Le Bon back in 2003, why that song and how did that duet come about?
When I was a little kid, my sister was obsessed with DURAN DURAN and she would play the albums. I liked it a lot, but that track particularly — it was a B-side — had this heaviness and slightly more serious, dark feeling that surprised me. Because as a kid you had this cool sexy boy band, right? So when that popped up, it was a doorway into sexuality and stuff that got my imagination going.
When it came about, I was in Tokyo working on stuff for a company that Simon co-owned. They were doing this compilation and they liked IAMX and wanted covers of things. I chose that, not for the benefit of Simon, but because I loved the song and it had this childhood yearning that I felt like I could do something with, because I was that kind of artist myself and interested in that.
He really loved the version. I think he felt flattered too, and the whole thing was a sort of mini-bromance for a bit. Then he decided to come on stage while I was performing it at that little festival we did. Interesting time.
You’re friends with Gary Numan who did remixes of ‘Spit It Out’ and ‘Happiness’ while you have directed his videos ‘I Am Dust’, ‘My Name Is Ruin’, ‘Intruder’ and ‘Saints & Liars’, have you tried making music together?
No. It was always avoided. It’s interesting. I think from both of our perspectives we kind of knew that was not the thing to be doing together. We’re both very clear and purposeful about our own projects. I think we can support each other in slightly different ways, but this idea of two titans clashing on the same page never felt right.
We got the chance to work together around the video thing, and that was great. He really loved my video work, so that just felt like the way to go.
I don’t feel like I need to do that with him. I still consider him a close friend. I think that kind of collaboration can actually damage things weirdly enough. I’ve had that in the past where collaborations are just unusual. It’s a unique way to relate to someone creatively. It can actually be super uncomfortable and intimate. It can be super light and cool too, but I think with our personalities, it probably would have been uncomfortable.
You are playing Infest in Manchester and also the two UNITY festivals in Germany, what are your plans in terms of presentation and content? Do you approach festivals differently from your own shows?
You are forced to approach festivals differently anyway. I try not to, but you have to loosen your grip. It’s so technical dealing with it, and festivals are generally chaotic, so there’s a certain amount of letting go involved. That’s quite difficult with IAMX shows because I’m pretty exacting. It just feels good for me to be exacting. So there is that. I don’t particularly like festivals, but having said that, I’m going to do my best to make these extraordinarily exciting — adding a quite special setlist, maybe some old tracks that haven’t been played for a long time or never been played at all.
So it’s going to be a pretty unique set, that’s for sure. It’s going to be super bombastic and highly energetic, but also incredibly emotionally intense for everybody. I want tears and sweat. Grinding thighs.
What is next for you? Where is your creative mindset now taking you?
I’m slowly injecting a bit of writing into my weeks. I am writing, and there are a couple of exciting things happening. On a private level I’m trying to get myself into a new creative compound space. I’m moving to another location, so I’m building that up. It’s a lot of work, but exciting.
I’ve got a new person in the project, which is very cool. I’ll be writing the new record fully and properly in the fall. I’ll be doing shows until then, but also writing a little bit, preparing, mentally gathering my thoughts and material. Then the next step is to release a new record in the spring. And that’s pretty exciting to me, even though I don’t really know what it is yet. I’m kind of looking forward to it myself.
The beauty of this life is that it does always feel exciting, even if you’re not quite sure what the fuck is happening. There’s just this feeling of possibility. I love that about art and this lifestyle. Regardless of the financial challenges, it always provides a sense of excitement and purpose.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Chris Corner
IAMX live dates in 2026 include:
Thale Unter dem Himmel (31st July–1 August), Hildesheim M’era Luna (9th August), Leiria Extramuralhaus (21st August), Manchester Infest (21st-23rd August), Oberhausen UNITY (18th–19th September with VNV NATION), Berlin UNITY (2nd–3rd October with VNV NATION)
Michael Oakley has declared his third album ‘Prologue’ as a new beginning.
The Toronto-based synthwave artist released his last album ‘Odyssey’ in 2021 and while there were those tropical backdrops on songs like ‘Babylon’ and ‘Real Life’ alongside the textural strummed acoustics of the Steve Winwood-influenced ‘Wake Up’, what appeared to be missing was the “synth” in his “wave”.
In an aid to remedy that, Michael Oakley has declared ‘Prologue’ as being his most ambitious album yet. The title is deliberate, it isn’t a sequel or a continuation — it’s a declaration that something new is starting.
Continuing to work throughout the record with regular writing collaborator Ollie Wride, despite a “Welcome to The Pleasure Dome”, ‘Warriors Of The Wasteland’ is not a FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD cover but wears its ‘Rebel Yell’ influences on its sleeve in a song that easily could have being playing with the boys in ‘Top Gun’.
Co-written and co-produced with James Meays of MISSING WORDS who also contributes guitar, the vibrant Trans-Atlantic pop of ‘Memory Of You’ is signature Michael Oakley, as is ‘Falling Skyward’ with both songs showcasing maximised production standards, something that not always the case with acts using today’s tech. And with the superb ‘School’, Oakley somehow manages to successfully cross Haddaway and Robbie Williams with NEW ORDER and PET SHOP BOYS! It’s as if Peter Hook wandered into the recording of ‘What Is Love?’ while there are also backing vocals from popwave starlet Dana Jean Phoenix.
‘The Glory Years’ is more balladic and wouldn’t sound out of place on a Brat Pack Movie soundtrack but ‘World Of Promises’ has a darker percussive bite with a Middle Eastern promise that is running up that hill and adds another string to Oakley’s sonic bow. Meanwhile ‘Shot To The Heart’ targets the Schaffel with a “bang-bang-bang” in obeying the “laws of attraction”.
Holly Dodson of PARALLELS guests with her best Belinda Carlisle impression on the lively ‘Hurts Like Heaven’ and here the rhythms rumble and the orchestras stab for some supreme Europop to joyously party like it is 1993. Nothing to do with GUNS ‘N’ ROSES, the ethereal closer ‘Use Your Illusion’ actually sounds more like COCTEAU TWINS although Oakley stops short of attempting Elizabeth Fraser’s abstract glossolalia.
Michael Oakley’s own summary for ‘Prologue’ is to “Imagine what DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Violator’ album would have sounded like if it was produced by Trevor Horn”; now while that is not quite how the album actually sounds, the sense of ambition and willingness to develop is here.
Applying the euphoric sounds of European dance music and mixing it with the cinematic Americanised architecture of synthwave and his own assured singer-songwriter sensibilities, ‘Prologue’ is undoubtedly the best Michael Oakley album to date.
Software used: Ableton Live 12, Propellerhead Reason 13
Synths used: Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3, Arturia V Collection, Reveal Sound Spire, Lennar Digital Sylenth1, Korg M1, X5DR, Nexus 5, VPS Avenger 2, Roland JD800, JV2080, JX08, UVI Emulation II+, Cherry Audio Mercury 8, Rob Papen Blue 3, Baby Audio BA-1, Tal-U-No-LX, Serum 2, Synapse Audio The Legend
‘Prologue’ is released by NewRetroWave on 29th May 2026 in a variety of vinyl LP, minidisc, cassette and CD formats as well as digital, available from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/
Described as “someone pulling signal from static”, Berlin-based experimental electronic punk artist Cosey Mueller releases her second album ‘Embodiment Of Denial’ via Bretford Records.
Championed by Iggy Pop via his show on BBC Radio 6 Music and with a feisty attitude reminiscent of Peaches, Cosey Mueller has procured an increasingly driving danceability to her work while ensuring there are potential “Ohrwürmer” within the hooks. But behind this backdrop, she raises questions about love, power, equality, honesty and the media.
Even though the various topics might seem uncomfortable and dark at first, everything is lubricated by a playful sense of humour that serves to ease any tensions. For example, the album’s trailer single ‘Der Politiker’ parodies sloganeering and reclaims the declarative statement for the forces of good to gets you dancing while it pulls back the curtain. “It’s the denial to embody anything forced upon us by the outside and by others” she says.
Cosey Mueller spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘Embodiment Of Denial’ and how it balances seriousness and wit, body and mind, and form and content across its eight relentless tracks.
How did your journey from the punkier bands DAS DAS and GLAAS develop into going solo and using more dominant electronic sounds?
Well the truth is that my solo project Cosey Mueller was myself experimenting with a synthesizer and drum machine in 2020. It was deep in the pandemic times, I had no job, a lot of time to kill and some ideas. I didn’t know how to record, I just recorded everything on cassette. And I never thought it would become a live act, it was just experimentation with sound and words. When I realised that it’s quite unique and has a life of its own, I decided to continue and it has been a road full of “learning by doing” ever since. The fact that the sound is more dominated by electronics is simply because I used a drum machine and synth, it was not a conscious decision.
Photo by Johannes Bünemann
What sort of music did you grow up enjoying?
All kinds of music. I was born in Greece and actually grew up with traditional Cretan music and 90s pop which was on TV and radio. The big change came when I was about 11 years old and we started having internet at home (which was a new thing). I started discovering artists like David Bowie and Lou Reed but also discovered the history of contemporary music in general, which fascinated me. Then of course the German electronic stuff, KRAFTWERK, DAF.… but also a lot of punk and rock ‘n’ roll. Anything that sounded good and had some honesty, energy, good lyrics and artistic value in it.
Do you have any preferred software tools or synths for composing?
I prefer analogue machines and use Ableton for recording. My favourite synth for composing is the clone version of Roland SH-101, I wish I had the original.
How do you look back on the making of your first solo album ‘Interior Escapes’?
Well it was a good and bad time. As I mentioned before it was during lockdown, a super weird time, there was not much to do. I really love the album because I feel like it captured some kind of magic: the naiveté of not really knowing what I was doing is something I will never be able to repeat (it was the first album I produced). And I put a lot of ideas in it which had accumulated in the years before when I was studying art in UdK, doing a lot of word collages and stuff like that. The art and music and personal feelings all came together. There was no intention to go anywhere with it, it’s a very pure album.
Are you naturally ‘Antisozial’?
Yes but I can’t be anymore since I play so many shows and work together with people. I guess I have ended up being more ‘sozial’ now, which is kind of ironic.
There is a lot going on around the world and closer to home which is disturbing yet accepted so before we know it, it could be “TOO LATE”; so how did ‘Embodiment Of Denial’ develop as a track and become the focal point for this new politically charged album?
Well we don’t live in easy optimistic times obviously. The track ‘Embodiment Of Denial’ is more personal though. I never followed the path of having a normal life with a job, house, car, kids etc. In the past 5 years, I have given myself completely to making music, which offers no security and is kind of wild sometimes. It can get hard to communicate with normal people and to function in everyday life. I feel that I am the “Embodiment of denial of reason” sometimes, although I am a very reasonable person actually.
Two years ago I wrote the song ‘Falsches Ding’ which means “The wrong thing” and it has a similar theme. For some reason I feel like there is something wrong in unapologetically doing your thing. But this feeling is not mine, I did not come up with it, it was planted in me by society, parents, teachers etc. It’s important to resist embodying something you are not or something that is forced upon you. And I think it’s never too late to do that. So at the end there is optimism and hope. That’s what it’s about. And obviously it’s too late to stop me now.
‘Nimm Mich’ translates as “Take Me” and retains your post-punk spirit, how do you balance your guitars and synthesizers in your solo work?
I don’t know. I try to combine sounds I love. I really love punk, rock ‘n’ roll and the guitar playing of Link Wray or Chuck Berry for example, which has nothing to do with electronic music. But I also love synthesizers and drum machines, so I just try to bring those elements together.
The hypnotic ‘Contraddict’ gets down to the alternative disco, how did you become more interested in doing something more danceable?
This track is obviously inspired by the song ‘Los Niños Del Parque’ by LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, but it became something completely different. There was a lot of experimentation, I had no idea how to sing it so I just improvised the lyrics following some written notes and kept the first take, doubling the vocals later. I have an artist’s education so sometimes I just do stuff and if I like it I keep it, if not I throw it away, there’s often no intention, no plan, no expected outcome. I had no idea this might become more danceable.
‘Obey’ is a superb lo-fi electro number that is quite different from the other tracks on the album with its charming primitive beatbox and Divine intervention, how did this one come together?
Actually ‘Obey’ was a jam session at first. The beat comes from a Yamaha keyboard, the song is not quantized and all the instruments are played by hand. So I guess that’s why it sounds different. The lyrics came later, inspired by the atmosphere of the song, it has something serious and urgent in my opinion. I could even imagine this one as a soundtrack.
You talk about the “New discomfort” on ‘Neue Ungemütlichkeit’ which has a bit of a klassik kosmische vibe, what was this song influenced by musically?
I would say this song was influenced by my own music. I tried to do something similar to ‘Parallel Gekreuzt’. The difference is that I worked on the structure of the song much more, put some breaks and changes in it whereas ‘Parallel Gekreuzt’ happened through experimentation and is more organic.
‘Der Politiker’ is more obvious and quite NDW, is there any particular politician you are taking aim at?
No, it’s not directed to one person in particular. I felt that people have a general dissatisfaction with politics in 2024/25. And I noticed that people’s love turns to hate very fast and very easy when it comes to politics.
The angry ‘Verlogen’ refers to untruths, how do you find navigating the internet and social media?
It’s hard and has changed our perception of reality. Because there is no truth or untruth and this creates disorientation. The real becomes the unreal and the unreal becomes real. Like in a dream. I have started to not believe in anything anymore. It’ s a bit sad.
So who is the ‘Media Maniac’?
It is the men in positions of power abusing it, using the media to manipulate individuals. But also you and me because we receive whatever is thrown at us by the media and it can influence our thoughts and feelings.
What is next for you?
Touring, playing concerts in places I have never been to, as much as I can. And continuing to write, think and create music. Thank you!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Cosey Mueller
Additional thanks to Dina Paschalidou Brudi at Eclectica
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