Tag: Cicero (Page 1 of 2)

SOFTWAVE: The Mr & Mrs Interview

15 October 2026 /

SOFTWAVE continue their tradition of remixing their albums and present ‘Things We’ve Remixed’.

This collection features 9 remixes spanning artists from 6 countries to celebrate a decade of musical connections; among those contributing are BLACK NAIL CABARET, VAINERZ, OCTOLAB and DISKODIKTATOR.

Among the highlights, Sophie Sarigiannidou from MARSHEAUX  transforms ‘Supernova’ into her own electronic universe while keeping the heart of the original song alive under her solo moniker ASPRA while former PET SHOP BOYS protégé David Cicero adds his rich hypnotic electronic disco touch to ‘Wake Up’.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK brought Catrine Christensen and Jerry Olsen together for an interview in the style of the old married couple TV quiz show ‘Mr & Mrs’. The Danish synthpop couple answered the same questions on their creative partnership and personal relationship separately without knowledge of the other’s answers… so here are SOFTWAVE playing ‘Mr & Mrs’…

What was your first impression of the other?

Jerry: I wasn’t interested to start with, but we were actually forced to dance with each other at an electronic music club. After some time together, I was more interested and I gave her my number. She called me the next day and we talked for a couple of hours. She then visited me one of the following days and we had so much in common. We’ve been together since. That’s 20 years ago now…

Catrine: I remember when I was introduced to Jerry at Culture Box in Copenhagen April 2007, I thought “What a terrible taste in clothes” haha… he was wearing a too large white t-shirt on his well-trained body.

Photo by Krestine Havemann

What was the moment that you knew you could be make music together?

Catrine: When Jerry bought a microphone in 2008 to try recording vocoded vocals for his instrumental music projects, and he afterwards asked me to give it a try.

Jerry: After we made the demo of ‘Follow You’ (from our first EP ‘Together Alone’) and another unreleased track called ‘Share’, I knew that we could make music together. The first EP was like a test run for us. We agreed that if that went well we would continue with a full album.

What’s the skill or trait which the other has in abundance that you wish you had?

Catrine: Jerry has an incredibly strong memory, so he’s a fast learner. Especially when it comes to music.

Jerry: Drive… I wish I had the positive drive that Catrine possesses. She always sees opportunities were I see problems and obstacles.

Who has the best music taste?

Catrine: Hard to tell, as Jerry is more into old music than I am. I love late 80s music as much as Jerry, which we both think was when the best music was produced. I especially like to discover new music, no matter genre. My taste is wider than Jerrys and for me that’s a good thing. But if you ask Jerry, he would probably say that he has the best music taste. Hahaha…

Jerry: Me, for sure 😉

What song by another artist does the other love that you hate?

Jerry: I can’t come up with a particular song but when Catrine plays meditation music, I hate that. It’s not relaxing to me at all, it’s sad, boring and irritating at the same time!

Catrine: I thought this question would be impossible for me to answer, because I rarely actually hate a song. But one night I was struggling to fall asleep when Jerry decided to put on ‘Unreleased Bitterness’ by MY DYING BRIDE. That did it! No one should disturb me with something that dark and depressing when I’m trying to sleep. Hahaha…

Photo by Krestine Havemann

How would you describe your songwriting dynamic?

Jerry: Still in development. We’ve tried different methods. Me writing a whole song first, us working together from the start, me starting a simple piano version. The method with starting with piano only is a great strategy because you will know if the track works out before adding synth stuff. We haven’t done that before actually.

Catrine: I’m not the best songwriter, but my talent is within the toplining, the melody ideas come to me very easily. I always try to make the melodies and lyrics as dynamic as possible, so the listeners won’t get bored. My main rule is always to analyse the whole thing thinking “When would I get bored?”. If there is a part in the song that I find boring, I try to fix it immediately.

Can the other cook? If so, what is their best dish?

Catrine: Yes and it’s Neapolitan pizza.

Jerry: Yes she can. I really like her pies and poke bowl.

When was the last time you walked out angry after a disagreement between you and how did you resolve it?

Catrine: Not long ago actually. Jerry disagreed on one of my ideas for a new song – then I had to leave the studio for a while. But when I returned, we resolved it by talking about the pros and cons. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, we always try to talk it through.

Jerry: Uh I don’t remember when I felt like that, but when it happens I need an hour or two to myself to cool down. We then hug each other and move on.

Photo by Krestine Havemann

How do you look back on the making and subsequent reception of ‘Things We’ve Done’?

Catrine: With ‘Things We’ve Done’, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make every song even better. There’s always that fear that the second album won’t live up to the first, and suddenly we had ‘Game On’ to compare everything with. So it took us longer to finish, and perhaps we were trying a little too hard to find “the hit”. In the end, though, we created a collection of songs that each worked in their own way.

The music, artwork and promotion all came together really well, and the album gave us some amazing milestones, including a GAFFA review, 2nd place at the ISSA Awards and many new musical connections along the way. Looking back, we’re very proud of it. And, following the tradition we started with ‘Together Alone – The Remixes’ (2017) and ‘Game On 1Up’ (2019), we felt this album deserved its own remix album too, which is how things we’ve remixed was born.

Jerry: Hmm the hard second album. I think it’s technically better than the debut album but we definitely had more success with the first album. I think the time around the debut and the OMD gigs was a magical time. The corona times following was a nightmare and ‘Things We’ve Done’ was conceived in this very nightmare. So it’s like this negative energy is clinging on to it.

And also, the second album doesn’t have a hit track like I feel ‘Something Is Missing’ was for the debut. All in all I think the reception of the second album was very dull compared to the debut…

On the new SOFTWAVE remix album ‘Things We’ve Remixed’, how did you choose the remixers?

Jerry: We talked about what resources we could pull on. We remixed for David Cicero, we know ASPRA aka Sophie Sarigiannidou from MARSHEAUX and Catrine had been writing a lot with BLACK NAIL CABARET, so these 3 where obvious to ask for a remix. The others were acquaintances or colleagues through music. One of the tracks is actually by our long time mix and master engineer Jacob Cederberg.

Catrine: We didn’t really choose the remixers from a list – we chose them from our journey. Every remixer has a connection to SOFTWAVE and represents friendships and musical relationships we’ve built across different countries over the years. Some we’ve remixed ourselves, some have remixed us, and some became friends along the way. We also wanted each of them to bring their own identity to the songs rather than simply making another version of the original. That’s why things we’ve remixed feels almost like a musical scrapbook of the past decade.

What’s your favourite remix on this ‘Things We’ve Remixed’?

Catrine: ‘Wake Up (Cicero Remix)’ –  I actually chose ‘Wake Up’ for Cicero myself, because he had recently released a song with the same title through one of his other projects. I thought it would be fun to hear what he could bring to our ‘Wake Up’ and he completely transformed it while still keeping the heart of the original. I couldn’t have asked for more. I was even told that his daughter sang along while he was working on the remix, so I guess that says it all! Hahaha…

Jerry: Cicero’s remix. That’s a banger 😀

How do you decide what songs to perform live, do you each have an individual power of veto?

Catrine: That’s on me. I always try to tailor the setlist to the audience. When the setlist is done, Jerry looks it through to say if there’s some songs that he rather wants to play at the moment.

Jerry: We both have veto. So if one of us doesn’t want a particular track on the setlist, it won’t make it.

What is your favourite song to play live?

Catrine: This might actually be the hardest question of them all, because I LOVE performing live! If I had to narrow it down, I have a special connection with ‘Something Is Missing’, ‘No Need To Hide’, ‘Don’t Bully Me Again’, ‘Never Gonna Let You Down’ and ‘This World’. They each bring out a different side of me on stage, from emotional and vulnerable to powerful and playful, while ‘This World’ brings out a more serious side of me. So asking me to choose just one is almost cruel! Hahaha…

Jerry: I like to play ‘Taking Life for Granted’.

What is your favourite city to perform in?

Catrine: If you refer to a city where we’ve already played, I would say Stockholm in Sweden, the venue was Berns.

Jerry: I don’t care about the city, I care about the venue. I must say the coolest place we ever played was at Berns in Stockholm. A very beautiful place and the best backstage room we’ve ever been in.

Photo by Dag Stinus

What is the essential thing that you can’t do without on tour?

Catrine: As no15 is my lucky number, this fifteenth question might be my favourite 😉

The essential thing for me, is definitely to have a solid plan A & B. This includes a checklist with everything from scheduling our transport, get-in time, soundcheck, contacts to hair/outfit styling and vocal-warm-ups.

Jerry: That has to be my addiction to gaming. I have a hard time without my PS5 and my favourite game ‘Arc Raiders’.

What’s the most annoying habit that the other has?

Jerry: Instead of using a finger, she makes this irritating sound with her throat when her ear itches and it’s really annoying!

Catrine: When Jerry thinks all hope is lost when a plan gets ruined. Now it’s obvious why I always have a plan B. Hahaha…

What is your favourite concert by another artist?

Jerry: That has to be ERASURE in Copenhagen 1997 on their ‘Cowboy’ tour, that was the first time I ever saw them live. That was amazing.

Catrine: HUGORM at Grøn Koncert in 2024

ERASURE or PET SHOP BOYS?

Jerry: Without a shadow of a doubt ERASURE. I like PET SHOP BOYS and listen to them occasionally but ERASURE is like an obsession for me. I’ve been a fan since I saw the ‘Stop!’ music video on television when I was about 10-11 years old. I absolutely adore Vince as a grandmaster synth wizard. Adding Andy to the mix, something magical happens. I’m not really a fan of their solo stuff but together they absolutely shine.

Catrine: ERASURE. I love the energy and personality Andy brings to the stage – that really speaks to me as a performer. But I have huge respect for PET SHOP BOYS too, especially how Neil Tennant has maintained that clean, soft vocal over the years, and of course Chris Lowe’s cool and understated personality.

Photo by Krestine Havemann

Which “romcom” couple is most like SOFTWAVE and why?

Catrine: Definitely ‘Lady & The Tramp’! Since I was little, I’ve loved cartoons, romance and silly romantic scenes like the famous spaghetti kiss, and dreamed of finding my own partner one day. Then I found Jerry… who is much more serious, structured and definitely needs a plan! Over the years I’ve learned to organise everything around SOFTWAVE so his nerves can survive our adventures. And since Jerry loves Italian food, especially tomato sauce, I think I actually got my ‘Lady & The Tramp’ ending after all.

Jerry: I don’t know much about romcoms…

What is next for SOFTWAVE?

Catrine: After ‘Things We’ve Remixed, we’re ready to move forward. We’ve already been writing a lot of new material for our third studio album, and that will be our main focus going into 2027. We feel like we’ve grown a lot since ‘Things We’ve Done’, both as songwriters and as people, so we’re excited to see where the new songs will take us. And of course, we want to bring SOFTWAVE to more stages.

Jerry: There’s the remix album and we are working on album 3 right now.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to SOFTWAVE

‘Things We’ve Remixed’ is released on 23rd October 2026, available on digitally via https://softwave.bandcamp.com/

http://www.softwavemusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SoftWaveMusic/

https://www.instagram.com/softwave_music/

https://softwave.lnk.to/softwave

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
15th October 2026

Lost Albums: CICERO Future Boy

18 September 2023 /

A fan of synthpop and dance music, David Cicero began writing songs and making music in his bedroom, aided by advancements in technology such as affordable samplers and sequencing software. His set-up eventually included a Korg T3, an Akai sequencer, an Akai sampler and a Roland rack mount synth.

Following a PET SHOP BOYS concert in 1989, the lad from Livingston in West Lothian managed to get a demo tape to the duo and before two could be divided by zero, Cicero was offered a record deal with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s new record label Spaghetti Records imprint which was being set up in conjunction with Polydor Records.

Although the excellent debut single for both Cicero and Spaghetti Records ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me’ failed to chart, it brought the young photogenic Scot to the attention of radio programmers and press. So when his PET SHOP BOYS produced second single ‘Love Is Everywhere’ was released in late 1991, traditionally a good time to break new acts due to the traditional New Year lull in the music business, it eventually reached No19 in the UK charts. The parent album ‘Future Boy’ was eventually released in Summer 1992.

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, Cherry Red will be reissuing ‘Future Boy’ as a fully remastered 45-track 3CD deluxe expanded edition with an illustrated 24-page booklet featuring an introduction and track-by-track comments by David Cicero himself. As well as all the Cicero tracks released during his Spaghetti period, there are also ‘Ciceroddities!’ in previously unreleased songs such as ‘Pretend’ and live tracks from a one-off concert at London Heaven opening for PET SHOP BOYS at an after party for the premiere of the 1991 Derek Jarman film ‘Edward II’.

The limited edition white vinyl LP edition of ‘Future Boy’ comes with a bonus DVD ‘Cicerovision!’ and includes all the official promotional videos, his 1992 Electronic Press Kit with contributions from Neil Tennant and live footage of the 1991 Heaven gig.

The melancholic but hopeful pop sound captured on ‘Future Boy’ was a reaction to Scottish radio which had local bands RUNRIG, HIPSWAY, DEACON BLUE and TEXAS on constant rotation. With the international success of PET SHOP BOYS, Cicero had seen an opening for electronic music influenced by acid house and techno but in a more mainstream way.

The London recording sessions were happy ones with Chris Lowe playing the joker while Neil Tennant would hold court, offering his critique on successful artists who he believed were not deserving. “I was loving every moment of it and thought it was amazing” Cicero told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in 2019, “looking back now it all seems like a dream.”

With his Italian name and the song’s Italian dance flavour, ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me’ ticked all of PET SHOP BOYS boxes as they prepared their first release on Spaghetti, but they opted to produce the second single ‘Love Is Everywhere’. Combining THE PROCLAIMERS with PET SHOP BOYS and OMD while throwing in bagpipes and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo for good measure, it was a bizarre but glorious sound that emerged from the radio just as 1992 began. A Scottish anthem that just worked, Cicero became a pop pin-up with a ‘Smash Hits’ front cover and numerous TV appearances including ‘Top Of The Pops’.

With “Cicero In Da House”, the excellent ‘That Loving Feeling’ also produced by PET SHOP BOYS was the third single prior to launching ‘Future Boy’ but stocking issues at parent label Polydor stalled momentum despite the video being shown pre-release on ITV’s ‘The Chart Show’; Cicero just missed the Top 40 at No46.

Aside from the three singles, ‘Future Boy’ included a number of equally worthy tracks. Cicero’s own personal favourite ‘Then’ was slated to be the fourth single but was shelved in favour of a PET SHOP BOYS remix of ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me’. Meanwhile mixed by Tennant and Lowe with Pete Schwier, ‘My Middle Class Life’ was a stark observation on the abuse of class hierachy that had an air of VISAGE in the chorus.

Both recalling NEW ORDER, ‘Sonic Malfunction’ and ‘Cloud 9’ were two catchy instrumentals that revealed Cicero’s affinity with club culture, but with the collapse of The Iron Curtain, he offered something much darker in ‘The Butcher Of Bucharest’ about the Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.

At the time a standalone single taken from the PET SHOP BOYS directed soundtrack to the movie ‘The Crying Game’ released in Autumn 1992 but very much a postscript to the ‘Future Boy’ story, ‘Live For Today’ displayed a more orchestrated feel with a superb gospel-tinged vocal from Sylvia Mason-James. Providing a “what if?” scenario as to a possible second album direction, Cicero however dropped out of the pop music industry for personal reasons. Although he would continue to release singles and record instrumental albums under the name THE EVENT, a second Cicero album ‘Today’ would not finally appear until 2021… but that’s another story.

‘Future Boy’ was a promising debut long player and contained a number of outstanding tracks which were enhanced by the involvement of PET SHOP BOYS during their imperial phase. But while that promise was not ultimately fulfilled back then, that Cicero is still making great pop music such as the poignant ‘Hold On To The Memories’ in 2022 shows that the talent really was there and never left him.

For the 30th Anniversary edition of ‘Future Boy’, a previously unreleased song intended for the album ‘Pretend’ has been included into the main tracklisting. There is also an early version of ‘Wish’, a song which he later re-recorded and subsequently appeared on ‘Today’. Among the bonus material, Cicero revisits ‘Love Is Everywhere’ for 2023 while there are also newly commissioned remixes of the track by the likes of SOFTWAVE.

Reflecting on criticism that said ‘Future Boy’ was just another PET SHOP BOYS side-project, David Cicero surmised: “I was their prodigy, they found me and I found them, it’s all about fate. I may have made it without the lads, but having them help me and to be part of it was something I would never change”.

‘Future Boy’ 30th Anniversary Edition with ‘Ciceroddities!’ is released as a 3CD deluxe set via Cherry Red Records on 29 September 2023, pre-order via https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cicero-future-boy-3cd-expanded-edition/

The white vinyl LP features a bonus DVD insert ‘Cicerovision!’ and can be pre-ordered at https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cicero-future-boy-limited-edition-white-vinyl-lp-with-exclusive-dvd-insert-cicerovision/

https://www.davecicero.com/

https://www.facebook.com/cicero222/

https://twitter.com/Dave_Cicero

https://www.instagram.com/davecicero_official/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Eric Watson
18 September 2023

A Short Conversation with CICERO

1 August 2023 /

Photo by Eric Watson

Spaghetti Recordings was the imprint set-up by PET SHOP BOYS with Polydor Records to champion new artists and their first signing was a young Scot named David Cicero.

Cicero was to score a Top20 hit at the start of 1992 with ‘Love Is Everywhere’; produced by PET SHOP BOYS and featuring the unusual cross pollination of THE PROCLAIMERS and OMD with the sound of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, it showcased the melancholic but rousing electronic pop of the lad from Livingston in West Lothian.

His debut album ‘Future Boy’ was released in Summer 1992 featuring the excellent singles ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me’ and ‘That Loving Feeling’ as well as highlights such as ‘My Middle Class Life’, ‘Sonic Malfunction’ and ‘Then’. Later in the year, Spaghetti Recordings were commissioned to provide the soundtrack to the film ‘The Crying Game’ which spawned a PET SHOP BOYS produced recording of the title song sung by Boy George and a new Cicero song ‘Live For Today’ which featured a duet with Sylvia Mason-James.

On the brink of wider success which would have been consolidated by a second album, personal issues led to Cicero leaving the music business altogether for a number of years. Making a tentative return to music, the belated second Cicero album ‘Today’ finally came out in Spring 2021, showcasing a naturally mature outlook.

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, Cherry Red will be reissuing ‘Future Boy’ as a fully remastered 45-track 3CD deluxe expanded edition with an illustrated 24-page booklet featuring an introduction and track-by-track comments by David Cicero himself.

As well as all the Cicero tracks released during his Spaghetti period, there are also ‘Ciceroddities!’ in previously unreleased songs such as ‘Pretend’ and live tracks from a one-off concert at London Heaven opening for PET SHOP BOYS at an after party for the premiere of the 1991 Derek Jarman film ‘Edward II’. In addition, David Cicero revisits ‘Love Is Everywhere’ for 2023 while there are also newly commissioned remixes of the track by the likes of SOFTWAVE.

The limited edition white vinyl LP edition of ‘Future Boy’ comes with a bonus DVD ‘Cicerovision!’ and includes all the official promotional videos, his 1992 Electronic Press Kit with contributions from Neil Tennant and live footage of the 1991 Heaven gig.

David Cicero kindly chatted with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK with about the contents of the upcoming 30th Anniversary reissue, the reception for ‘Today’ and the future of the ‘Future Boy’.

This 30th Anniversary edition of ‘Future Boy’ has been updated to include a track called ‘Pretend’ in the main tracklisting, how come that got let off in the first place?

I think it was really down to the timing. We were still working on the track and I think we hit the deadline and decided to leave it out.

I read somewhere (I think it was PET SHOP BOYS fan club newsletter) that ‘Future Boy’ had originally been intended as an eight track album but ‘Cloud 9’ and ‘Sonic Malfunction’ were added at almost the final hour?

Not true, it was always intended to have these tracks as I had created them prior to moving to London and producing the album.

When ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me’ was first released, it did not involve PET SHOP BOYS on the production side and David Jacob did the honours, but can you remember the excitement of putting out your debut single and the PSB remix which was later issued as the ‘fourth’ single?

Yes, it was exciting to have them work on it even though I did want ‘Then’ to be the next single at the time. Once it was completed, it did sound great and was happy we went with it instead.

What particularly motivated you to write ‘The Butcher Of Bucharest’ about Nicolae Ceaușescu?

I remember watching the news about this and seeing all the poor souls that suffered under this man, a so-called leader of the people who was pure evil. For some reason it drew me closer and I started watching documentaries and reading about it and I had this internal feeling that I must write a song about it, so I did.

There are a bunch of dance instrumental B-sides included in the package, what was your approach to these and do you have a favourite?

‘Splatt’ is probably my favourite. I love writing instrumentals, I feel that sometimes this helps bring out emotions in another level. I still do this in THE EVENT which I have released several ambient albums on. I like pop for the commercial side of things and THE EVENT for more emotional and even political driven direction. It’s part of me and what I am also known for so why not have them all on there for the people to enjoy.

How did the idea of the new remixes of ‘Love Is Everywhere’ come about, did you have any say who did them? How have you found them, particularly the SOFTWAVE version which has their singer Catrine Christensen duetting with you?

What can I say about the SOFTWAVE version but wow. I remember chatting with Barney at Cherry Red about this idea and Barney mentioned that he wanted to do some remixes for it but I did not know at the time who they were. He sent me them up once they were complete and I love them all. However when I listened to the SOFTWAVE mix, I was drawn to it immediately. I had created the promo video for the new ‘Future Boy’ release promo and knew their mix would fit perfectly. They had put a lot of time and effort into this mix and deserve to be part of it.

There are a bunch of ‘Ciceroddities’ as extras, one being an early 7” Version of ‘Wish’ which you later redid for your second album ‘Today’ in 2021, what had that been intended for and what are your feelings hearing it again?

I have the demo on tape so have listened to it when recreating it for the latest Cicero album ‘Today’. I always loved this song and tried many singers before Bianca came along. It was intended to be a later Cicero release and just missed being originally on ‘Future Boy’ but was written a way back then.

What can you remember about the 1991 Heaven gig opening for PET SHOP BOYS which is included visually as a bonus DVD on the vinyl LP and as audio on the ‘Ciceroddities!’ disc of the 3CD set, were you a natural stage performer?

I was crapping myself and maybe had a little too much to drink on the nite. I wouldn’t say I am a natural performer as nerves take the better of me. This may be why I don’t do many live gigs. It was an honour to be with the boys on the night and really got into it once the gig went on, just like my gig in Livingston.

You finally followed up ‘Future Boy’ in 2021 with ‘Today’, how has the journey been to release music again, are you enjoying the experience? Has it met your expectations?

You have to believe in yourself and keep going, never give up no matter who or what tries to stop you. This was my mission to release another album. I had been working on this for several years and thought the time was right to get it out there. The feedback I had was amazing from true fans who appreciated it and have been there since day one and some new ones too. I did expect more exposure but as it was released independently, the cost of promotion was not there and as you know, a lot of the radio stations are controlled by bigwigs and teenagers who only like one type of genre. I will keep going, keep writing as long as God wants me too.

You released an excellent new single ‘Hold On To Your Memories’ in 2022, is this the beginnings of your third album?

Thank you. Yes it is, I am hoping to have this out in 2024. I only have a few songs left to complete the album, but I want to make sure I am 100% happy with it before the release.

You released a single ‘We Were In Love’ with a software “AI” singer named Solaria on lead vocals, so is this the future, boy?

It was really just a project I was playing about with. I had completed the music and had the idea of using Solaria on the track. It involves a lot of tinkering but the final results were wonderful. I did not want to announce at first that she was AI and waited on the reaction. A few knew but I had so many asking who the singer was, so I made a video about the software which you can see on my official YouTube channel. She may feature again on the album but I think I will stick with the real Future Boy thing for now.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to David Cicero

Special thanks to Matt Ingham at Cherry Red

‘Future Boy’ 30th Anniversary Edition with ‘Ciceroddities!’ is released as a 3CD deluxe set via Cherry Red Records on 29 September 2023, pre-order via https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cicero-future-boy-3cd-expanded-edition/

The white vinyl LP features a bonus DVD insert ‘Cicerovision!’ can be pre-ordered at https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cicero-future-boy-limited-edition-white-vinyl-lp-with-exclusive-dvd-insert-cicerovision/

https://www.davecicero.com/

https://www.facebook.com/cicero222/

https://twitter.com/Dave_Cicero

https://www.instagram.com/davecicero_official/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn2u-hBlIdgiyOUNWntcxXA

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7HRosqc2irGpixMFV8xWUO

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
1 August 2023

2021 END OF YEAR REVIEW

17 December 2021 /


As the world steadily emerged from a painful pandemic that put many lives on hold, nostalgia appeared to be the commodity most in demand as the music industry took steps to recover.

No matter which era, anything musically from the past was more desirable that anything that reminded the public of the past 20 or so months. The first escape destination in the summer for many restricted to staying on their own shores were the established retro festivals.

Meanwhile television provided an array of documentaries ranging from chart rundowns of past decades and informative classic song analysis on Channel 5 to Dylan Jones’ look at ‘Music’s Greatest Decade’ on BBC2 and Sky Arts’ ‘Blitzed’ with all the usual suspects such as Boy George, Philip Sallon, Marilyn, Gary Kemp and Rusty Egan.

SPARKS had their own comprehensive if slightly overlong film ‘The SPARKS Brothers’ directed by Edgar Wright, but the Maels’ musical ‘Annette’ starring Adam Driver was a step too far. Meanwhile the acclaimed ‘Sisters With Transistors’ presented the largely untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers.

It was big business for 40th anniversary live celebrations from the likes of HEAVEN 17, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, OMD and SOFT CELL, while other veterans such as NEW ORDER and ERASURE returned to the live circuit with the biggest indoor headlining shows of their career.

Meanwhile for 2022, Midge Ure announced an extensive ‘Voices & Visions’ tour to present material from the 1981-82 phase of ULTRAVOX.

Also next year and all being well, GOLDFRAPP will finally get their belated 20th Anniversary tour for their marvellous debut ‘Felt Mountain’ underway while there are rescheduled ‘Greatest Hits’ live presentations for PET SHOP BOYS and SIMPLE MINDS.

Always money for old rope, but also giving audiences who missed them at their pioneering height an opportunity to catch up, ‘best of’ collections were issued by YELLO and TELEX while JAPAN had their 1979 breakthrough album ‘Quiet Life’ given the lavish boxed set treatment. Meanwhile, while many labels were still doing their best to kill off CD, there was the puzzling wide scale return of the compact cassette, a poor quality carrier even at the zenith of its popularity.

“Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Re-evaluate the songs! Double-pack with a photograph, extra track and a tacky badge!” a disgraced Northern English philosopher once bemoaned.

The boosted market for deluxe boxed sets and the repackaging of classic albums in coloured vinyl meant that the major corporations such as Universal, Sony and Warners hogged the pressing plants, leaving independent artists with lead times of nearly a year for delivery if they were lucky.

But there was new music in 2021. Having achieved the milestone of four decades as a recording act, DURAN DURAN worked with Giorgio Moroder on the appropriately titled ‘Future Past’ while not far behind, BLANCMANGE took a ‘Commercial Break’ and FIAT LUX explored ‘Twisted Culture’. David Cicero made his belated return to music with a mature second album that was about ‘Today’ as Steven Jones & Logan Sky focussed on the monochromatic mood of ‘European Lovers’. Continuing the European theme but towards the former Eastern Bloc, Mark Reeder gave a reminder that he was once declared ‘Subversiv-Dekadent’ and fellow Mancunians UNE became inspired by the ‘Spomenik’ monoliths commissioned by Marshal Tito in the former Yugoslavia.

For those who preferred to immerse themselves in the darker present, Gary Numan presented ‘Intruder’, a poignant concept album produced by Ade Fenton about Mother Earth creating a virus to teach mankind a lesson! Meanwhile ITALOCONNECTION, the project of Italo veterans Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti teamed up with French superstar Etienne Daho to tell the story of ‘Virus X’! The video of the year came from UNIFY SEPARATE whose motivation message to ‘Embrace The Fear’ despite the uncertainty reflected the thoughts of many.

Despite the general appetite for nostalgia, there was some excellent new music released from less established artists with the album of the year coming from Jorja Chalmers and her ‘Midnight Train’ released on Italians Do It Better. The critical acclaim for the UK based Aussie’s second long playing solo offering made up for the disbandment of the label’s biggest act CHROMATICS, as it went into its most prolific release schedule in its history with albums by GLÜME, JOON, DLINA VOLNY and LOVE OBJECT as well as its own self-titled compilation of in-house Madonna covers.

As Kat Von D teamed up with Dan Haigh of GUNSHIP for her debut solo record ‘Love Made Me Do It’, acts like DANZ CM, CLASS ACTRESS, GLITBITER, PRIMO THE ALIEN, PARALLELS, KANGA, R.MISSING, I AM SNOW ANGEL, XENO & OAKLANDER, HELIX and DAWN TO DAWN showed that North America was still the creative hub as far as electronically derived pop songs went.

Attracting a lot of attention in 2021 were NATION OF LANGUAGE, who with their catchy blend of angst, melody and motorik beats welcomed synths as family in their evolving sound while also providing the song of the year in ‘This Fractured Mind’, reflecting the anxieties of these strange times. At the other end of the spectrum, DIAMOND FIELD went full pop with an optimistic multi-vocalist collection that captured the spirit of early MTV while BUNNY X looked back on their high school days with ‘Young & In Love’.

ACTORS delivered their most synthy album yet while as LEATHERS, they keyboardist Shannon Hamment went the full hog for her debut solo effort ‘Reckless’. FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY released a new album and some of that ‘Mechanical Soul’ was brought by their Rhys Fulber into his productions this year for AESTHETIC PERFECTION.

In Europe, long playing debuts came from PISTON DAMP and WE ARE REPLICA while NORTHERN LITE released their first album completely in German and FRAGRANCE. presented their second album ‘Salt Air’. There was also the welcome return of SIN COS TAN, KID KASIO, GUSGUS, MARVA VON THEO and MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY.

Featuring second generation members of NEW ORDER and SECTION 25, SEA FEVER released their eclectic debut ‘Folding Lines’ as fellow Mancunian LONELADY added sequencers and drum machines to her post-punk funk template. But Glasgow’s CHVRCHES disappointed with their fourth long player ‘Screen Violence’ by opting to sound like every other tired hipster band infesting the land.

The most promising artist to breakthrough in 2021 was Hattie Cooke whose application of traditional songwriting nous to self-production and arrangement techniques using comparatively basic tools such as GarageBand found a wider audience via her third album ‘Bliss Land’. In all, it was a strong year for female synth-friendly artists with impressive albums from Karin My, Laura Dre, Alina Valentina, Robin Hatch and Catherine Moan while comparative veterans like Fifi Rong, Alice Hubble, Brigitte Handley and Alison Lewis as ZANIAS maintained their cult popularity.

In 2021, sometimes words were very unnecessary and there were fine instrumental synth albums from BETAMAXX, WAVESHAPER, КЛЕТ and Richard Barbieri, with a Mercury nomination received by Hannah Peel for ‘Fir Wave’. But for those who preferred Italo Noir, popwave, post-punk techno and progressive pop, Tobias Bernstrup, Michael Oakley, Eric Random and Steven Wilson delivered the goods respectively.

With ‘The Never Ending’ being billed as the final FM ATTACK album and PERTURBATOR incorrectly paraphrased by Metal Hammer in a controversial “synthwave is dead” declaration, the community got itself in a pickle by simultaneously attacking THE WEEKND for “stealing from synthwave”, yet wanting to ride on the coat tails of Abel Tesfaye, misguidedly sensing an opportunity to snare new fans for their own music projects.

With THE WEEKND’s most recent single ‘Take My Breath’, there was the outcry over the use of a four note arpeggio allegedly sampled from MAKEUP & VANITY SET’s ‘The Last City’. But as one online observer put it, “Wow, an arpeggiated minor chord. Hate to break it to you but you might want to check out what Giorgio Moroder was doing 50 years ago. We’re ALL just rippin’ him off if that’s how you think creativity works”. Another added “If a four note minor key arpeggiated chord can go to court on the basis of copyright law, we are in for a hell of a few years my synthy friends”. It outlined once again that there are some who are still under the impression that music using synths was invented by Ryan Gosling in 2011 for ‘Drive’ soundtrack ??

There were also belated complaints that 2019’s A-HA inspired ‘Blinding Lights’ had a simple melody and needed five writers to realise it… but then, so did UTRAVOX’s ‘Slow Motion’ and DURAN DURAN’s ‘Rio’! Collaboration, whether in bands, with producers or even outsiders has always been a key aspect of the compositional process. If it is THAT simple, do it yourself! As Andy McCluskey of OMD said on ‘Synth Britannia’ in 2009 about the pioneering era when Ryan Gosling was still in nappies: “The number of people who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you: ‘well anybody can do it with the equipment you’ve got!’ “F*** OFF!!”

Over the last two years, THE WEEKND has become the biggest mainstream pop act on the planet, thanks to spectacles such as the impressive gothic theatre of the Super Bowl LV half time showcase while in a special performance on the BRITS, there was a charming presentation of the ERASURE-ish ‘Save Your Tears’ where he played air synth in a moment relatable to many. But everything is ultimately down to catchy songs, regardless of synth usage.

So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK would like to present a hypothetical case to consider… if someone uses the arpeggio function with a sparkling patch from a Juno 6 synth in a recording, does Cyndi Lauper sue for infringing the copyright of ‘All Through The Night’ or the original songwriter Jules Shear or even the Roland Corporation themselves as they created it? More than one producer has suggested that THE WEEKND’s soundbite came from a hardware preset or more than likely, a software sample pack, of which there are now many.

However, sample culture had hit another new low when Tracklib marketed a package as “A real game-changer for sample based music. Now everyone can afford to clear samples” with rapper and producer Erick Sermon declaring “Yo, this is incredible. They’re trying to put creativity back into music again. By having samples you can actually pay for and afford”.

Err creativity? How about writing your own songs and playing or even programming YOUR OWN instrumentation??!? One sampling enthusiast even declared “I might go as far as to say you don’t really like dance music if you’ve got a problem with adding a beat to a huge (even instantly recognizable) sample”… well guess what? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK LOATHES IT!!! ?

In 2021, music promotion became a bit strange with publicists at all levels keen more than ever to have their clients’ press releases just cut ‘n’ pasted onto online platforms, but very reluctant to allow albums to be reviewed in advance in the event of a potential negative prognosis. While cut ‘n’ paste journalism has been a disease that has always afflicted online media, in a sad sign of the times, one long established international website moved to a “pay to get your press release featured” business model. The emergence of reaction vloggers was another bizarre development while the “Mention your favourite artist and see if they respond to you” posts on social media only added more wood to the dumbing down bonfire already existing within audience engagement.

It was as if the wider public was no longer interested in more in-depth analysis while many artists turned their publicity into a reliance on others doing “big ups” via Twitter and Facebook. But then, if artists are being successfully crowdfunded with subscriptions via Patreon, Kickstarter, Bandcamp and the like, do they need a media intermediary any longer as they are dealing direct with their fanbases?

However, it wasn’t all bad in the media with ‘Electronically Yours With Martyn Ware’ providing insightful artist interviews and the largely entertaining ‘Beyond Synth’ podcast celebrating its 300th show. Due to their own music commitments, Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness were less prolific with their discussion show ‘The Album Years’ but it was still refreshing for commentators to be able to say that a record was sh*t when it actually was, rather than conform to the modern day adage that all music is good but not always to the listener’s taste!  And while various programmes came and went, other such as ‘Operating//Generating’, ‘KZL Live’ and ‘Absynth’ came to prominence.

Post-pandemic, interesting if uncertain times are ahead within the music industry. But as live performance returns, while the mainstream is likely to hit the crowd walking, will there be enough cost effective venues to host independent artists? Things have been tough but for some, but things might be about to get even tougher.

However, music was what got many through the last 18 months and as times are still uncertain, music in its live variant will help to get everyone through the next year and a half and beyond.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s year in music is gathered in its 2021 Playlist – Missing U at
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4rlJgJhiGkOw8q2JcunJfw

Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th December 2021

CICERO Today

14 March 2021 /

David Cicero’s ascent into the pop charts was swift. The first signing to Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s Spaghetti Records imprint, his 1991 PET SHOP BOYS produced single ‘Love Is Everywhere’ reached No19 in the UK charts.

The album ‘Future Boy’ followed in 1992 while he also contributed the song ‘Live For Today’ to the Oscar nominated film ‘The Crying Game’. But record company politics intervened at Spaghetti Records’ parent organisation Polydor and after the sad passing of his manager Peter Andreas, Cicero effectively left the mainstream music industry.

There were sporadic solo single releases over the next few decades, while he released several albums as THE EVENT and collaborated with dance DJs on a number of trance tracks. It was after a comeback charity concert in July 2019 in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support that Cicero started to put together his second album.

He had material from his Spaghetti Records days as well as his occasional singles, thus half the album was already written. So while reconfiguring his ‘Future Boy’ songs into a modern technological format for his live return, he would work on new material during breaks from programming. The Scot told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “it’s not ‘Future Boy 2’ but it’s still going to have that Cicero feel to it with a more up to date cutting edge sound”

Fast forward to 2021 and during the intervening period, Cicero tragically lost his mother and stepfather within a year. As a result, the album ‘Today’ is a very personal affair tinged with sadness but also full of hope.

Opening track ‘It’s Over’ is not too frantic a start and eases the listener back into the world of Cicero; using the voice treatments of now, it is that relatable tale of being in love with someone you can’t get on with… hey, we’ve all been there!

The hopeful euphoria of ‘Wish’ is undeniably a close relation to ‘Live For Today’ and features Amy Meave Baillie on vocals.

She ably deputises for Sylvia Mason-James in a manner that Neil Tennant used refer to as a “disco lungsmith” and perhaps unsurprisingly, it is a song from that bygone Spaghetti Records era.

Also led by soaring female vocals are the poignant ‘Face This World Alone’, a drum n bass excursion first issued as a single in 2015 and ‘Anyone But You’ which exudes further ripples of the breakbeat form, indicating the origins of both may have been from the same period. At the opposite end of the spectrum, ‘In the Rain (Children of Today)’ is a homely piano ballad featuring his daughter Holly calling for a better world and hoping that “happiness will come my way”.

A slice of heavenly spaghetti disco, ‘River of Lies’ is mighty with a strong PET SHOP BOYS influence. Out of all the tracks on ‘Today’, it is the one that, as his former mentor Neil Tennant used to say when he was Assistant Editor of Smash Hits, confirms Cicero is “Back-back-BACK!”. Also uptempo, the propulsive banger ‘Hide from Life Instead’ is wonderfully energetic and even features a few drops, all that’s missing are strobes!

A solemn heartfelt ballad, ‘This Way I Feel Inside’ encapsulates the very personal reflections that are omnipresent on ‘Today’. But the self-explanatory ‘Turned Around’ shows how the future boy has become a future man. A song about watching his daughter growing up, it is joyful tune that moves from ballad into Eurodance stomper after a minute and a half. It is also slightly reminiscent of Roger Sanchez’s TOTO sampling ‘Another Chance’ but with a considerably stronger lyrical focus.

Closing with ‘Broken’, a ballad concluding with a glorious piper’s lament and elegiac Vangelis inspired synth, Cicero heartbreakingly recalls in song of how he was unable to see his mother when she passed away.

‘Today’ is a mature midlife statement that touches on topics such as love, relationship breakdown, parenthood and bereavement which many will relate to. There are also some nostalgic nods to clubbing but let’s face it, while it is fun to go out and dance in your 50s, you wouldn’t want to do it every week now or even every month. It reflects the stage of life when the end is closer than the beginning, but there is still so much more to do and with that in mind, there can be a new found optimism.

It may have taken nearly 30 years for Cicero to follow-up his debut album, but it is time to rejoice that he is still able to produce good music, with some cracking tracks contained on ‘Today’.

Bentornato Cicero 🙂

‘Today’ is available via the usual digital platforms

https://www.davecicero.com/

https://www.facebook.com/cicero222/

https://twitter.com/Dave_Cicero

https://open.spotify.com/album/3XyjeCiUPloTomB387JH9e

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th March 2021

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