Refusenik duo POLYCHROME release their first new music since performing at Glastonbury’s Green Futures Field in Summer 2022.
The insistent new single is called ‘Signs’, a tale about being unable to make a decision while stuck between parallel universes. Using side-chained synths, sombre brass punches and glitchy vocal samples over a sharp rhythmic backbone, the duo of Victoria Harrison and Oliver Price provide a dystopian vibe to their Sega-Tronic Dreamwave sound.
Fittingly, the music of POLYCHROME has appeared on the soundtracks of shows such as ‘Unorthodox’, ‘All The Boys I Loved Before’ and ‘Red Oaks’. “Our chance or our design, still we wait for a sign” sings Victoria Harrison; she chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about seeing those ‘Signs’, the accompanying music video directed by Sammy Patterson and a little bit more…
POLYCHROME have been a bit quiet of late?
Tell us about it.
Small children get in the way – what can I say! I am now running a full time vocal coaching business and Olly is busy writing music for film and pop. So our own passions are whenever we can get a London studio date booked together.
But you did play the Green Futures Field at Glastonbury last Summer, how was that?
That was amazing! And at one point I just shouted down the mic – “helllllo Glastonbury” as a rush of adrenaline came over me! I did spend the first half of the festival inviting the most extravagantly dressed people to our set – turns out that doesn’t work – so I don’t recommend it. Green Futures’ staff were amazing, so thanks to them.
So what are the ‘Signs’ you are looking for?
It’s about being paralysed by a decision you have to make, and getting stuck between the parallel universes that split off from that decision. You just want a sign from the gods telling you what to do, and for atheists like us they don’t seem to provide that service…
You adopt several looks in the video, what does each one represent?
That’s a question. We decided with the director of the video that how the emotions of the character developed should also be portrayed in each look. Four characters all together representing – calm, hope, separation and comfort
What’s next for POLYCHROME?
We would love to spend some time aiming our single at music supervisors as this is how we make any income to continue our project. We recently got Final Kiss in the new Ginny and Georgia series so I’m going to hit them up first. Then we aim to release at least one more single in 2023! And play Glastonbury again if they’ll have us!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to POLYCHROME
Forming in 1977, NEW MUSIK are quite possibly the most underrated band from that first wave of synth-flavoured acts who followed TUBEWAY ARMY into the UK singles charts after ‘Are Friends Electric?’ went to No1 in Summer 1979.
However frontman, main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tony Mansfield felt more at home in the studio and maintained a parallel career as a producer. Featuring Clive Gates on keyboards, Phil Towner on drums and bassist Tony Hibbert, NEW MUSIK appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’ with their first four singles between 1979-1980.
NEW MUSIK were often dismissed by the music press as a novelty act due to the comedic voices often used in their songs. But despite their apparent frivolity, there were often serious existential lyrical gists amongst the lush melodies and crisp production.
Giving its name to a new almost definitive 4CD NEW MUSIK compendium, the debut album ‘From A To B’ was recorded as a collection of songs over a period of more than a year. There was a fluid band line-up that earlier on also included Nick Straker who was to have a 1979 international disco hit ‘A Walk In The Park’ which Mansfield, Towner and Hibbert played on.
Opening ‘From A To B’ with NEW MUSIK’s first single ‘Straight Lines’, the backdrop of acoustic guitars, synths, string machines, piano, deep drones and electronic claps demonstrated Mansfield’s desire to create a sonic balance between pop and oddness, laying the template for a unusual hybrid sound.
Released in 1980 on GTO Records who had THE NEW SEEKERS, FOX, HEATWAVE, THE WALKER BROTHERS and THE DOOLEYS in their roster, ‘From A To B’ contained their biggest hit in the quirky ‘Living by Numbers’. Although it embraced a perky radio-friendly sound, Mansfield’s lyrics projected more dystopian concerns with life reduced to numerical identity, be it for age, statistics, registration, credit or wealth. NEW MUSIK were to have another hit with ‘This World Of Water’, a musical metaphor for drowning in the pressures of society.
While both hits featured varispeeded and treated voices, they acted as memorable hooks in a manner that pre-dated THE ART OF NOISE. With a cascading synth riff reminiscent of John Foxx’s ‘Underpass’, the stomping ‘Sanctuary’ proved that NEW MUSIK’s chart successes were not flukes, but it would prove to be their last.
With three Top 40 singles on their debut long player, most bands would have been content but ‘From A To B’ possessed some other magnificent riches.
The fabulously dreamy ballad ‘A Map of You’ was one of the non-single highlights with its beauty counterpointed by discordant metallic arpeggios. Meanwhile displaying an affinity to Thomas Dolby, ‘Science’ fully presented the widescreen scope of the Mansfield production palette.
‘Dead Fish (Don’t Swim Home)’ reflected the nuclear paranoia of the times while issued as a single in Europe, ‘On Islands’ was covered by German trio CAMOUFLAGE in 1989 on their ‘Methods Of Silence’ album. There was also the chirpy ‘Adventures’ which lyrically dealt with the curse of demotivation before the magical synth-layered folk of ‘The Safe Side’ completed what was a brilliant debut album.
Despite NEW MUSIK’s success, Mansfield sought to record a proper album with ‘Anywhere’ released in 1981. Aiming to be less pop and more experimental, the scene was set with the opening track ‘They All Run After the Carving Knife’ which following an obscure minute long avant-garde intro, burst into what in hindsight sounds like an anguished blueprint for A-HA with a marvellous closing passage of synths in the final 90 seconds!
‘Anywhere’ also saw drum machines brought more into the mix as on the spacey ‘Areas’ while ‘Churches’ brought in vocoder. Playing with eerie chorals and reverse voices, one of the singles ‘Luxury’ utilised a mechanised swing as Mansfield questioned the Thatcherite politics of the time, a theme also touched on in ‘Division’.
With technology leaping forward at a phenomenal rate, another single ‘While You Wait’ added PPG-derived bells and a dominant synthbass but although it was more accessible than the other tracks, it was not quite hit material. Despite a long instrumental intro and Mansfield’s lead vocal not coming until around the 2 minute mark, ‘Changing Minds’ provided a snappy highlight laced in rigid beats, strums and sumptuous synth heaven.
Although ‘Anywhere’ was a more serious album, a sign of Mansfield’s sense of humour came with the inclusion of a ballad called ‘This World Of Water’ which was totally unconnected with the 1980 hit. Meanwhile ‘Peace’ made use of a subtle bossa nova and ‘Back To Room One’ provided another classic NEW MUSIK number to finish as Mansfield expressed his desire to make a fresh start. Less immediate than its predecessor and perhaps overlong at 12 tracks, there were no hits from ‘Anywhere’ and the album itself, although very good, only reached No. 68 in the UK charts as a result.
By 1982, the signs were not good as NEW MUSIK’s label GTO Records folded while Towner and Hibbert departed the band. Signing to GTO parent company Epic Records, the final album ‘Warp’ was recorded by Mansfield and Gates with Cliff Venner on live percussion. But having been influenced by his collaborations outside of the band with Yukihiro Takahashi of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, with the advent of digital samplers and sequencing technology, the end result was almost entirely electronic.
More experimental than ‘Anywhere’, ‘Warp’ confusingly had two songs called ‘All You Need Is Love’ including a propulsive electronic take on THE BEATLES song with ‘Greensleeves’ tagged onto the end as well as Mansfield’s own pretty composition based around the original’s chord progression!
With a Simmons barrage that would later be a trademark of Mansfield’s NAKED EYES productions, ‘Here Come the People’ was a neo-instrumental that went straight into the cleverly produced ‘Going Round Again’ which connected Mansfield with Trevor Horn in their adventures in modern recording.
‘I Repeat’ recaptured some of the classic NEW MUSIK magic in its bright hooks but was ultimately not radio-friendly material, but the oddball instrumental ‘Green & Red (Respectively)’ was fun and banged a can in its use of sampling. ‘Kingdoms For Horses’ provided some new funk in an attempt to move forward with the times but was tucked away towards the end of the album, ‘The Planet Doesn’t Mind’ was proof that NEW MUSIK could still produce excellent singles although this too failed to chart.
Closing proceedings with the playful ‘Warp’ title song, its tape chewed ending was symbolic. Seeing a brighter future in record production, Mansfield disbanded NEW MUSIK before the start of 1983. The sound seeded on ‘From A To B’, ‘Anywhere’ and ‘Warp’ would later appear in varying degrees on records by CAPTAIN SENSIBLE, NAKED EYES, AZTEC CAMERA, VICIOUS PINK and many more.
As well as the three NEW MUSIK albums, this boxed set includes a bonus CD of selected B-Sides, single edits and extended versions. B-Side to the ‘All You Need Is Love’ cover, the delightful ‘Twelfth House’ acts as a reminder of the ‘From A To B’ period, albeit with more updated instrumentation like Simmons drums. Meanwhile ‘She’s A Magazine’ and ‘From The Village’ were also worthy flipsides while ‘Chik Musik’ did as the title suggested and aped CHIC. NEW MUSIK also had a knack for brilliant synth instrumentals with ‘The Office’ particularly shining while ‘24 Hours from Culture (Part 2)’ now comes over as an inspiration for OMD’s ‘Junk Culture’.
Time has shown that NEW MUSIK were underappreciated in their day and deserve critical re-evaluation. The legacy of Tony Mansfield and his crafted sparkle combining pretty synth melodies alongside gentle strums and punchy electronic rhythms has can be heard today in THE WEEKND, particularly on ‘Less Than Zero’ and ‘Blinding Lights’. As if to confirm that link, after NEW MUSIK, Mansfield did the original production for A-HA’s first album ‘Hunting High & Low’.
In common with THE BUGGLES, LANDSCAPE and TELEX, NEW MUSIK featured musicians who subsequently excelled outside of their bands as producers. To be a good producer, it helps to be musical as well as technical and Tony Mansfield certainly proved that. This excellent boxed set provides an opportunity established music fans who may have missed them first time round and new listeners to discover the wonderful world of NEW MUSIK.
Best known as one half of the Greek synthpop duo MARSHEAUX, Sophia Sarigiannidou launched her solo project ASPRA in 2022
Her first single was ‘Velvet’, an electronic rework of the 4AD cult shoegaze duo THE BIG PINK while on the flip was another cover in ‘Anoint’, a song originally by John Peel favourites THE FIELD MICE. While these choices were unexpected, it did point to Sarigiannidou’s own leftfield tastes. There was also two fabulous collaborations with veteran electronic composer Lena Platonos, prosed unexpectedly en Français.
“I started going to the neighborhood record store and asking them to write me tapes. I bought the ‘Machines’ compilation LP. The disc starts with ‘Messages’ by OMD. What a shock that was… within 3 minutes so many different tunes alternated, one better than the other.” she said, “Through this record, I discovered Fad Gadget, Gary Numan and John Foxx! That afternoon the living room of the house in Thessaloniki was transformed into a window into a future era! It was written everywhere that ‘the synthesizer is the sound of the future’. Mine certainly was!”
Compiling a collection of rare and less obvious post-punk and synth tracks in the spirit of ‘Machines’ from 1977-1985, ‘ASPRA presents: Play For Tomorrow Vol.1’ sees Sarigiannidou offer a snapshot into her creative outlook with songs that four decades on have shown themselves to be “timeless jewels that you can play for today or play for tomorrow…”
While OMD are among the better known acts in the selection with the wistful ‘Of All The Things We’ve Made’ along with ULTRAVOX’s superb ‘Just For A Moment’, the others are more obscure but no less essential. Complimenting these two choices, ‘Karussell’ by Michael Rother of NEU! highlights the German musician’s influence on the aural aesthetics of both.
With wispy vocals and joyfully handled keys, Chris & Cosey’s wonderful ‘October (Love Song)’ was the antithesis of their parent group THROBBING GRISTLE and covered by MARSHEAUX in Greek for their debut album ‘E-Bay Queen’ in 2004. Another highlight is the TB303 driven cinematic synthpop of ‘Mystery & Confusion’ by TUXEDOMOON leader Blaine L Reininger which exudes a Eurocentric spirit as per its title and deserves wider recognition.
But the collection begins with the spacey avant folk of ‘UFO Report No.1’ by THE GADGETS, a track recorded in 1979 and featuring a very young pre-THE THE Matt Johnson. Despite its dour vocal delivery, 1982’s ‘Love Disgrace’ from Italian duo AMIN PECK is immensely catchy with its pulses, chops and glorious synth lines. Meanwhile New Zealand’s CAR CRASH SET earn their place with ‘Fall From Grace’ where deep sombre vocals contrast with a sparkling but gritty mechanical roll over 8 minutes.
Mute Records founder Daniel Miller finds two of his productions included; the dystopian minimal synth of ‘Music To Save The World By’ was the B-side from a one-off single on Cherry Red Records by the little known Alan Burnham while planting the seed of KOMPUTER, ‘Still Smiling’ by I START COUNTING has an innocent charm with those distinctive metallic tinges circa 1985. From that same year, French trio RUTH are eccentric but stylish on their debut single ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ crossing the detached with the playful while another curveball is thrown when the muted brass kicks in.
Α new wave duo with hints of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND but with a heated Italian vibe rather than the Götterdämmerung of Nico, CHRISMA’s ‘Black Silk Stocking’ was a 1978 single was produced and co-written by Vangelis’ brother, Nikko Papathanasiou. THE BUGGLES maybe best known for ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ but the duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes actually made a second album ‘Adventures In Modern Recording’ in 1981; from it, ‘On TV’ is enjoyably oddball while employing exotic Eastern flavours not unlike LANDSCAPE.
Last but not least THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUS’ spirited anti-war anthem ‘Direct Lines’ is sadly still relevant 42 years after its release. In what turned out to be a one-off project led by Gary Numan keyboardist Chris Payne, the resigned hopelessness is captured by the vocals of Penny Heathcote, frontwoman of Brighton band CORVETTES who themselves only issued one single.
‘Play For Tomorrow Vol.1’ is a superb compilation that will appeal to long standing music fans who love discovering music from the imperial pioneering phase of electronic pop that may have fallen under the radar back in the day.
Sophia Sarigiannidou has done a fantastic curation job and it will be interesting to see how these influences might permeate into the soundscapes of the eventual debut ASPRA album.
2017’s ‘Metropoli’ was ITALOCONNECTION’s first album proper with their most recent long player ‘Midnight Confessions Vol1’ showcasing a collection of danceable widescreen European electronic pop at its best.
But for the new ITALOCONNECTION album comes a twist; ‘Nordisko’ pays tribute to the songwriting and style of the Nordic region via a collection of cover versions. The palette ranges from overtly pop focussed groups such as SECRET SERVICE, FAKE and ARMY OF LOVERS to modern day artists such as Jay-Jay Johanson and Jaakko Eino Kalevi.
“Vintage vibe – modern sound” is the mission statement of ITALOCONNECTION and ‘Nordisko’ certainly sees the duo of Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti continuing that adventure. To put the album’s approach into context, while Italo Disco has generally seen in the UK as a much-maligned Mediterranean form, it was very popular with holidaying Northern Europeans as the music acted as their escapist soundtrack from the chills of home. Indeed it was the German label ZYX that actually coined the term “Italo” as an all-encompassing description of European electronic disco pop while Sweden produced home grown exponents such as Paul Rein and Annie Anner.
Fast forward to today and Italo still reigns strong with newer acts such as CARINO CAT from Stockholm. Meanwhile Danish remixer Flemming Dalum is a respected historian appearing on documentaries such as ‘Italo Disco Legacy’ and Finnish producer Jori Hulkkonen has always acknowledged the influence of Italo on his work.
A huge hit throughout Europe in 1981, SECRET SERVICE’s ‘Flash In The Night’ utilised the first LinnDrum Computer that arrived in Sweden and has since been covered by a number of acts including RATIONAL YOUTH.
Although more of a Euro synthrock crossover tune, ITALOCONNECTION provide an enticing homage as the opener with icy synths alongside an incessant backbone, highlighting the song’s melodic resonance.
Written and performed by Jay-Jay Johanson who also collaborated with THE KNIFE on the song ‘Marble House’, his marvellous 2002 tune ‘On The Radio’ is given an airy feminine disco flavoured makeover featuring Jaia Sowden on vocals. With absorbent sequences and glistening keys, it is a fine shape shift from the artpop original.
Of a more classic Italo bent with its octave shifts, CARINO CAT’s ‘Talk To The Hand’ possesses drive, but reinterpreting FAKE who were a Swedish band who recorded in Italy, ‘Donna Rouge’ is hypnotic avant disco with great hooks and marvellous counter-melodies as a well as a swirly synth solo. An ARMY OF LOVERS number which was produced by SECRET SERVICE in 1988, ‘When The Night Is Cold’ is presented with layers of chilling cinematics that exudes a Cold War menace that is also exhilarating.
‘Cairo C’ featuring another Italo veteran Francesco Rago is a tighter modern rework of Finnish combo DIGITAL DANCE who recorded just two singles back in their day and this resurrection of their material is a fitting platform for belated recognition. Remaining in Finland, Jaakko Eino Kalevi who released his first album ‘Dragon Quest’ in 2007 sees his ‘Flexible Heart’ from 2010 moved from the darker indie synth take on his ‘Modern Life’ to more club orientations with the longing of the lyrics twisted into something more hopeful.
With the airy voice of Saralunden on her own ‘Touch Me Now’ which was originally recorded in a New York electro style with another previous ITALOCONNECTION collaborator Tobias Bernstrup for their joint EP ‘Fat Boy’, Ventura and Gozzetti reshape it more for a European disco audience to conclude ‘Nordisko’.
While a cool melancholy naturally breathes over ‘Nordisko’, ITALOCONNECTION provide the elation while allowing the melodies to maintain an emotional centre that respects the songs’ original intent. As the cover illustrates, this is a mixtape of sorts and is just the tonic as Winter turns to Spring.
Jennifer Touch released her first album ‘Behind The Wall’ in 2020 as an autobiographical document of growing up in the DDR.
Having first released music in 2014, this Berlin-based daughter of flower-power children now issues her second full-length record ‘Midnight Proposals’, inspired by the John Steinbeck book ‘Grapes of Wrath’. The story of the migrant farmworkers during The Great Depression reminded Touch of her great grandparents’ own life and her own yearning for somewhere safe to settle. ‘Midnight Proposals’ is the mysterious yet hopeful manifesto that Jennifer Touch wants to present to the world.
Opening song ‘Summerchild’ has a stark intent, enigmatic while unsettling as a song born of frustration containing a narrative of powerlessness while seeking self-freedom. Inspired by Touch’s own childhood as were most of the tracks on Behind The Wall’, this acts as a bridge to ‘Midnight Proposals’ as it discards the shackles of adolescence.
The lo-fi avant-pop of ‘Rumor’ is accessible yet tinged with anguish and vulnerability. Buoyed by a new love, it is hazy happiness packed into a pop song although with the obligatory portion of darkness. ‘A Day’ utilises an expected jazz drum loop but with a randomised bleep n squelch collage, it is more abstract with a detached monologue about “unsaved legs, untouched lips” and “naked tits” while Duane Eddy inflections spring a surprise in the final section.
The sombre drone-laden ‘Prayer’ expresses different personalities within the same psyche, using a deep pitch shifts as another instrument, but the excellent ‘Sacred Type’ is like a synthpop Siouxsie while displaying a musical affinity with Berlin-based artist Zoe Zanias.
In a barrage of uneasy percussive noise, the deadpan ‘Gudrun’ pays tribute to Touch’s grandmother who was forced to abandon many of her own dreams while as the title suggests, ‘Twisted’ has this dissonance about it as elements fight against each other in disharmony and dislocation.
Recalling another Berlin-based act NNHMN, ‘Soft & Dark’ is another track that reflects its title with some icy pulsating Gothic disco manifestations. However the DIY austere of ‘Shot Shot’ is more obscure while ‘Already There’ offers an ambient guitar exercise with spoken word. With even more guitar, ‘Art’ echoes JOY DIVISION’s ‘Incubation’ but with vocals while with an ominous electronic squelch, ‘Sold Out’ is haunting, again recalling Zoe Zanias.
A counterpoint to the joy of the song ‘Rumors’, the closing number ‘Strings’ takes on the more melodic instincts of THE CURE and NIRVANA despite doomy bass inflections and although the Numan-esque synths are dreamlike, are they actually part of a nightmare?
Self-described as a “Post-Wave-Cold-Pop-Acid-Romance”, ‘Midnight Proposals’ packs a lot in although it perhaps tails off during the final third after a feisty engaging run off the starting blocks. However, it is a worthy accessible successor to ‘Behind The Wall’ and further establishes Jennifer Touch as an independently-minded artistic talent.
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