Tag: Propaganda (Page 1 of 7)

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & JOHN OWEN WILLIAMS Interview

18 July 2025 /

Photo by Ray Moody

Best known for the mighty singles ‘Dr Mabuse’, ‘Duel’ and P-Machinery’ with PROPAGANDA, Claudia Brücken’s fourth solo album ‘Night Mirror’ sees her somewhere “Between two worlds, looking for answers in the shadows.”

Working again with John Owen Williams for the first time on a full-length long player since the 2014 solo album ‘Where Else…’, in the decade long interim, Claudia Brücken released ‘Beginn’ with Jerome Froese and ‘The Heart Is Strange’ with Susanne Freytag and Stephen Lipson as xPROPAGANDA.

Employed as an A&R executive as well and at the BBC for many years on their radio sessions, John Owen Williams’ production credits have included BLANCMANGE, THE PROCLAIMERS and THE HOUSEMARTINS. His more traditional style of songwriting saw Brücken adopt the acoustic guitar for ‘Where Else…’ but while similar colours shape the nocturnal moods of ‘Night Mirror’, there is a stronger electronic component than its predecessor for a record which showcases “the Claudia you know, and one that you don’t yet know”

Claudia Brücken and John Owen Williams chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about how the cocktail of electronic and organic textures came to sonically define ‘Night Mirror’.

Photo by Anton Corbijn

You both worked together on ‘Where Else…’ and it went well enough for you do another record, how would you describe your creative dynamic, are you sitting in a room together?

Claudia: It starts with me and John meeting up, I travel over to his place where at the end of his garden, he has a studio. We work on songs mostly from 11 until 6…

John: I’ll play Claudia some ideas and she’ll say “no”, “yes” OR “maybe” *laughs*

But if she says “I really like that”, we’ll dig in deeper and look at the music to make it so it’s unique to us…

Are you writing organically because ‘Where Else…’ had this acoustic flavour?

John: The songs mainly originate on acoustic guitar and then become transposed into electronica. So the process wasn’t that different from ‘Where Else…’ except the instrumentation was a bit different.

So that was over 10 years ago, how have your approaches evolved and what is ‘Night Mirror’ reflecting?

John: ‘Night Mirror’ is lyrically about reflection and living in the present and looking forward to the future in a nutshell. I would work late into the night with the ideas that had originated in the daytime and then pinged them over to Claudia at 3 o’clock in the morning so she was cognizant that we were changing things…

Claudia: Yes, often when you pinged, I was awake and then I would listen to the songs at that point, so they are like “night objects”.

John: We inhabit these songs, we live inside them.

How long was this process because the xPROPAGANDA album ‘The Heart Is Strange’ took a while, was this a shorter gestation period?

Claudia: John and I have been working together all these years and we enjoy it, but after ‘The Heart Is Strange’ which John also involved in on as a writer, we just kept going. We were wondering whether to continue writing for xPROPAGANDA, but then we just thought that what we were doing, it was a Claudia Brücken album.

John: We’ve been working on ‘Night Mirror for about 2 years.

2 years is quite short for making an album these days! *laughs*

Claudia: Yes, John really knows how to push a project forward and keeps the eye on the ball! *laughs*

How did this become an album of “the Claudia you know, and one that you don’t yet know”?

Claudia: There are some really personal lines that really describe some parts of me, so this record is more personal in that sense compared with xPROPAGANDA or an electronic album…

John: There are different styles while all the songs inhabit the electronic world, there are different types of songs within it, they are unlike anything Claudia has ever done before.

I agree, ‘Night Mirror’ has a traditional feel but with strong electronic embellishments which is quite unusual today…

Claudia: That’s very interesting you say that…

John: Our references in electronica are quite different, mine started with Walter Carlos ‘Switched On Bach’ and in the 70s, I worked with Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil who were part of TONTO’S EXPANDING HEAD BAND, I promoted their album ‘It’s About Time’, they had the first polyphonic analogue synthesizer which powered ‘Superstition’ and other Stevie Wonder hits. Also Edgar Froese ‘Epsilon in Malaysian Pale’ was a big influence on me and then I managed BLANCMANGE as well as producing quite a few tracks. Claudia is more KRAFTWERK…

Claudia: Yes, just different worlds.

It’s a highlight of the album but why are there ‘Shadow Dancer’ and ’Dancing Shadow’ variations of the same song? Was this like a ‘Jewel’ / ‘Duel’ situation?

Claudia: I’ve always been a fan of remixes, songs can go this way or that way. So we had ‘Shadow Dancer’ and then John, you made a different version?

John: Phil Bodger who mixed the album came up with a new riff that became the heartbeat of ‘Dancing Shadow’. It gained a new life for itself and had a heavier bass synth linked to it… it was so good that it was worth a different approach. It is basically the same track…

Claudia: …yes, but more of a laid back angle. It’s almost got a bit of reggae in there…

Yes, ’Dancing Shadow’ has this dub approach?

John: I worked at Island Records and was quite influenced by ASWAD, BLACK UHURU and Bob Marley. Quite a few of the songs on ‘Night Mirror’ have a reggae lilt to them, ‘Funny The Things’ has got that.

Claudia: When you work at night, you end up approaching things in different ways… we were just exploring all kinds of fusion basically Chi.

‘Rosebud’ is classic driver friendly pop, was it obvious this would be the lead single?

John: We left the releases of the singles off the album to Demon and their promotion team, we felt each song was strong enough.

The opening number ‘My Life Started Today’ has this lovely ‘Satellite of Love’ vibe about, was that intentional?

Claudia: It wasn’t intentional but ‘Transformer’ by Lou Reed is one of my favourite albums. I’ve always liked his deliverance, that “sprechgesang” and it’s something I’m not unfamiliar with. You have influences so that will come out somewhere ad we don’t really sense ourselves in that way.

On a similar theme at the tougher end of the spectrum, ‘Sound & The Fury’ reminds me of THE STOOGES but with an electronic backbone?

Claudia: It’s great that it gives you that sense of attitude.

John: I love ‘Sound & The Fury’, I love my guitar playing on it, it’s so punky… it’s THE CARS meets NEW YORK DOLLS and there’s a bit of HAPPY MONDAYS and NEW ORDER there too.

Claudia: It’s a “don’t give up song”

There are surprises like the banjos on ‘Funny The Things’ and ‘Sincerely’ with its flamenco and flute flavour, yet both become very sequenced in places for some twists, how did these more unexpected mixtures come into mind?

John: Well, Claudia didn’t like the banjo to start with and wasn’t sure it should be there! But I think she’s grown accustomed to it.

Claudia: In the end, I decided I didn’t want to be discriminating against any instruments. I thought that if John really hears that banjo sound at that point, go with it.

John: I had produced a BLANCMANGE track called ‘Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone?’ which my friend Simon Elliston played flute on, so I realised that flute does work well with electronica; he came down to the studio and played on 2 or 3 tracks, and on ‘Sincerely’, it really works.

Claudia: Yes, it’s really groovy, I really like that 70s reference. I like having real instruments and real players, that’s a nice thing.

John: And of course it didn’t harm JETHRO TULL *laughs*

Are those real or virtual orchestrations across the ‘Night Mirror’ album?

John: They’re virtual, I used the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and it’s fantastic. I played a lot of these string parts and I’m not a trained keyboard player, so these are all sounds that I evolve and eventually find the right status.

It IS amazing what you can get coming out of your computer these days…

John: They sound real don’t they…

‘The Only Ones’ is a pretty pop number with spritely acoustic six strings, bass harmonics, sax and pizzicato sitting over a drum machine, can you tell us a bit about that one?

John: That’s a track that Jason Mayo helped us with, he had a system called Knobula which is advanced polyphonic foot pedals and he helped programme this track with me. It’s got a Vangelis-inspired middle eight.

Claudia: We wanted it to sound a bit like ‘Blade Runner’…

John: It’s like a 50s song with 60s recording techniques, 70s electronica and 80s ABBA harmonies.

Do you have any favourite songs from the album, the ones which give you most satisfaction?

Claudia: I kind of like them all for their stories and the worlds they draw you in. I like ‘To Be Loved’ a lot but it’s ‘Shadow Dancer’ that I really like. But I just like to listen to the album from beginning to end because it takes you into different kinds of zones.

John: ‘Sincerely’ is one of my favourites because it manages to paint an aural picture, the acoustic guitar works well, the electronica works well and Claudia’s vocals are fantastic. That’s something that permeates the whole album, there’s a lot of harmony singing going on, a lot of tracking and stacking of vocals that gives it a unique flavour I think.

It terms of mixing, there is a Dolby Atmos mix alongside the standard stereo, how did the approach differ?

John: David Kosten did the Dolby Atmos mix, I would provide him with 20 stems per track, a lot for these songs are running 150 tracks! There’s a huge amount of tracking going on, they’re all like jigsaws. So he would want 20 different parts and then he would try to replicate them the mixes of the album in Dolby Atmos. When we went down to hear it, it blew our minds away, it just sounds incredible. He has a 12 speaker system in his room, you sit in the middle and it’s like being transported to a different world.

Claudia: It’s a different sound experience, it not something I hear every often, I normally just listen to things in stereo so it’s a very unusual way of listening and I really enjoyed it, hearing what can be done.

As a closing question, have you any thoughts on AI and how if might affect music making in the future, particularly your roles as singer and producer?

Claudia: I have to get my head around it more, it’s unbelievable what it can do really, I want to be quite cautious with it. I have to get to know it more but its mind boggling what it can do, just taking voices so I’m having mixed feelings.

John: It’s frightening but exciting! I don’t want to use it really, I’m quite happy to use my own brain cells to construct the world that Claudia and I share, so I don’t want anything else getting in the way.

Claudia: I like the analogue world.

Are there any live dates planned for ‘Night Mirror’?

Claudia: The album could be performed but there’s no tour planned; I think it’s important people get to know the songs first before we even think about it. But I have some dates with xPROPAGANDA in Germany in December performing ‘A Secret Wish’ and ‘The Heart Is Strange’.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Claudia Brücken and John Owen Williams

Special thanks to Stuart Kirkham

‘Night Mirror’ is released by Demon Music Group in a variety of formats including vinyl LP, vinyl LP + 12” EP, CD, CD+EP and Dolby Atmos Blu-Ray, available from https://claudiabrucken.lnk.to/nightmirror

https://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/

https://www.johnowenwilliams.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://www.instagram.com/claudiabrucken/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
18th July 2025

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Night Mirror

2 July 2025 /

“The songs seemed to come to me in the middle of the night, and when I listened to them, there I was. Between two worlds, looking for answers in the shadows.”

Following her last album ‘The Heart Is Strange’ with Susanne Freytag and Stephen Lipson as xPROPAGANDA in 2022, Claudia Brücken is back with what is perhaps surprisingly only her fourth solo album ‘Night Mirror’. But the German chanteuse has always been something of a collaborator, working with notable personnel such as Trevor Horn, David Sylvian, Glenn Gregory, Midge Ure, Thomas Leer, Pascal Gabriel, Steve Nye, Andrew Poppy, Paul Humphreys, Martin Gore, Andy Bell, Stephen Hague, Jerome Froese, Wolfgang Flür and Michel Moers.

‘Night Mirror’ is no different and sees her back working with John Williams who produced her third solo album ‘Where Else…’; that record saw Claudia embrace the acoustic guitar. Written and recorded in London between 2023-2025, while ‘Night Mirror’ can be considered as having a traditional songwriting ethos with organic instrumentation, it is simultaneously electronic in unexpected ways so that the end result is neither wholly either. It is therefore the Claudia you know, and one that you don’t yet know.

Photo by Ray Moody

With virtual orchestrations, the opening number ‘My Life Started Today’ delightfully drops hints of Lou Reed’s ‘Satellite of Love’. ‘Rosebud’ offers classic driver friendly pop rich in Mellotron strings, stabs of Hammond and subtle sequencer while the spacious soundscapes and snappy rhythms of ‘All That We Ever Have’ provide a cocktail of electronic and organic textures, with piano motifs sitting alongside sequencers.

The full sequencer treatment comes with ‘Sound & The Fury’ but then out pop crunchy guitars and nods towards THE STOOGES. Spritely acoustic six strings, bass harmonics, sax and pizzicato sit with drum machines on ‘The Only Ones’ for a pretty pop number. A surprise comes with ‘Funny The Things’, an offbeat countrified number that even includes with banjo and flute but then twists courtesy of various synth arpeggios in the second half. Also showing another side to Claudia is ‘Sincerely’ which brings in a flamenco flavour and more flauty tones for a breezy hippy effect that is unique with its machine rhythm beats.

But with her characteristic ice maiden cool, the brilliant ‘Shadow Dancer’ turns the album on its head with an uptempo electronically driven number with minimal rhythm guitar and piano sparring off the synthetic stabs and metronomic rhythms. Here Claudia’s assuring poetry is supreme in this divine slice of avant pop.

The lengthy ‘To Be Loved’ is a sparse piano ballad than sees fretless bass come into play but maybe outstays its welcome. But closing with a variation on ‘Shadow Dancer’, the trancier ’Dancing Shadow’ sparkles with synth pulses and even throws jazz guitar into an incessant claptrap backbone for a spritely dub excursion.

Enjoyably unusual in its hybrid musical approach, ‘Night Mirror’ is another fine Claudia Brücken collection of nocturnal mysteries, reflections, struggles and obsessive observations. Despite not being a full electronic pop album, there are plenty of synthetic embellishments for those Claudia fans from the ZTT and ONETWO school to savour.

‘Night Mirror’ is released on 4th July 2025 by Demon Music Group in a variety of formats including vinyl LP, vinyl LP + 12” EP, CD, CD+EP and Dolby Atmos Blu-Ray, pre-order from https://claudiabrucken.lnk.to/nightmirror

https://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://www.instagram.com/claudiabrucken/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd July 2025

ANOTHER 25 SYNTHY COVERS 2015 & Beyond

26 April 2025 /

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has always preferred a cover version over a remix any day of the week…

But if you are going to do a cover in an electronic fashion, then try to be original! Don’t be bleeding obvious, retreading a Numan track unless something fresh can be offered or recording a Depeche song weeks after it is released as some did with ‘Ghosts Again’… maybe pick an obscure country, folk or soul number and make it your own with an otherworldly synth-laden treatment…

A follow-up to the 25 CLASSIC SYNTH COVERS and 25 21ST CENTURY SYNTH COVERS 2000 to 2014 articles, this listing features recordings made since 2015 up to the present day. So here selected by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK are ANOTHER 25 SYNTHY COVERS 2015 & BEYOND, with the list restricted to one song per artist moniker, presented in yearly and then alphabetical order …

MARSHEAUX Monument (2015)

The MARSHEAUX reworking of DEPECHE MODE’s second album ‘A Broken Frame’ shed new light on Martin Gore’s first long form adventure as songwriter and affirmed that ‘My Secret Garden’ and ‘The Sun & The Rainfall’ were just great songs. But ‘Monument’ was an example of a cover outstripping the original and given additional political resonance with the economic situation close to home that the Greek synth maidens found themselves living in at the time of its recording.

Available on the MARSHEAUX album ‘A Broken Frame’ via Undo Records

http://www.marsheaux.com/

METROLAND Close To Me (2015)

Needing to be heard to be believed, this rather inventive and charming cover of THE CURE’s ‘Close To Me’ by Belgium’s favourite passengers METROLAND utilised a selection of male and female computer voice generators to provide the lead vocal, in a move likely to upset the majority of real music purists. Meanwhile, the hidden melodies shone much more brightly than in the goth-laden original, thanks to its wonderful and clever electronic arrangement.

Available on the album ‘A Strange Play – An Alfa Matrix Tribute To The Cure’ (V/A) via https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/a-strange-play-an-alfa-matrix-tribute-to-the-cure

http://www.metrolandmusic.com/

PARALLELS Moonlight Desires (2015)

A song by mulleted Canadian rock musician Lawrence Gowan, ‘Moonlight Desires’ was first released by him in 1987 and featured Jon Anderson on backing vocals! Fellow Canadians PARALLELS fronted by Holly Dodson gave the hook-laden song a more nocturnal synthpop-oriented twist which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the soundtrack a Brat Pack movie.

Available on the PARALLELS album ‘XII’ via Marigold Productions Ltd

https://www.iloveparallels.com/

HANNAH PEEL Heaven How Long (2015)

Hannah Peel’s first release was ‘Rebox’, a covers EP using an antique music box as accompaniment. For her second instalment, she added analogue electronics to the musical palette with some original instrumentals accompanied the reworkings. ‘Heaven How Long’ was originally performed by EAST INDIA YOUTH, but Miss Peel’s version stripped down the arrangement to a music box and synth for a less frantic but more forlorn outcome.

Available on the HANNAH PEEL EP ‘Rebox2’ via My Own Pleasure

http://www.hannahpeel.com

TREGENZA The Partisan (2015)

Manchester-based Ross Tregenza is an experienced hand having co-written ‘Diaries Of A Madman’ with Dave Formula and Steve Strange when he was a member of VISAGE II in 2007. He surprised electronic music audiences with a Spartan cover of ‘The Partisan’, a song made famous by Leonard Cohen. While some may despair at the very mention of the droll Canadian, his work has strong parallels with Gothic veined musical forms, especially with this harrowing tale of La Résistance.

Available on the TREGENZA album ‘Into The Void’ via Tregenza Music

https://www.facebook.com/tregenzamusic

JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM Jerusalem (2016)

One of DAILY PLANET’s main inspirations was cult UK synth trio WHITE DOOR. So when their chief synthesist Johan Baeckström was needing tracks to include on his ‘Like Before’ EP, the almost choir boy overtures of ‘Jerusalem’ was a natural choice for a cover version. Of course, this was not the first time Baeckström had mined the WHITE DOOR back catalogue as the more halcyon ‘School Days’ adorned the flip of his debut solo single ‘Come With Me’.

Available on the JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM EP ‘Like Before EP’ via Progress Productions

https://www.facebook.com/bstrommusic/

PSYCHE Ring The Bells (2016)

From the Cold War Night Life curated ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’, one of the highlights from the collection was PSYCHE’s take on ‘Ring The Bells’ from appropriately, RATIONAL YOUTH’s ‘Cold War Night Life’ debut. The clattering 808 beat and elegantly haunting sweeps combined with Darrin Huss’ mournful vocal provide an atmospheric reworking that betters the original and reflects the decades long kinship between RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE.

Originally on the album ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’ (V/A) via Cold War Night Life, currently unavailable

http://www.psyche-hq.de/

HEAVEN Lonesome Town (2017)

The mysterious HEAVEN first came to wider attention with the release of the ‘Lonesome Town’ EP. Caked in reverb and virtually unrecognisable, the funereal paced title song cover of the Ricky Nelson ballad captured the fragility of the broken heart as conveyed by the forlorn vocals of Aja Emma. Closer scrutiny revealed that HEAVEN was another project helmed by the ubiquitous musician and producer Johnny Jewel, best known a member of CHROMATICS.

Available on the HEAVEN EP ‘Lonesome Town’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.facebook.com/ITALIANSDOITBETTER/

KALEIDA 99 Luftballons (2017)

Moody electronic duo KALEIDA first came to wider attention opening for Róisín Murphy in 2015. Covers have always been part of Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder’s repertoire with ‘A Forest’ and ‘Take Me To The River’ being among them. Their sparse rendition of ‘99 Luftballons’ by Nena earned kudos for being very different and included in the soundtrack of the Cold War spy drama ‘Atomic Blonde’, hauntingly highlighting the nuclear apocalypse warning in the lyric.

Available on the KALEIDA album ‘Tear The Roots’ via https://kaleida.bandcamp.com

http://kaleidamusic.com

UNIFY SEPARATE Mute (2017)

What happens when you cross anthemic Scottish indie with cinematic Swedish synth? You get US, now known as UNIFY SEPARATE. A cover of a 2001 song with an acoustic but modern flavour by Swedish singer-songwriter Stakka Bo aka Bo Johan Renck, this was perfect for Andrew Montgomery of GENEVA and Leo Josefsson of LOWE to showcase their different musical sensibilities in a more electronic setting as their debut single.

Available on the UNIFY SEPARATE album ‘First Contact’ via https://unifyseparate.bandcamp.com/album/first-contact

https://www.unifyseparate.com/

IONNALEE Mysteries Of Love (2019)

The biggest surprise on the second IONNALEEalbum ‘Remember The Future’ came with the cover of ‘Mysteries Of Love’, the iconic Angelo Badalamenti ‘Blue Velvet’ song with lyrics by David Lynch, originally performed by Julee Cruise. Co-produced by RÖYSKOPP, Jonna Lee stole the moment with her angelic voice while big synth leads and widescreen atmospheres were reminiscent of Vangelis.

Available on the IONNALEE album ‘Remember The Future’ via To Whom It May Concern

https://ionnalee.com

KID MOXIE Big In Japan (2020)

Unwittingly reflecting the Covid crisis, KID MOXIE soundtracked the film ‘Not To Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk’. The plot centred around a womanizer who finds out he is a carrier of an STD, lethal only to women! She said of ‘Big In Japan’: “It didn’t feel right to necessarily use drums because I did want to take a departure from the ALPHAVILLE original. There was already a strong rhythm element with the synth bass and it takes it to a different place by having a woman sing it.”

Available on the KID MOXIE album ‘The Covers’ via Minos EMI

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

NATION OF LANGUAGE Gouge Away (2020)

NATION OF LANGUAGE front man Ian Devaney was in an alternative rock band THE STATIC JACKS, but his interest in synths was sparked by hearing OMD’s ‘Electricity’ in his father’s car for the first time in years. In NATION OF LANGUAGE, he combined his past and future interests into an excellent electronic cover of PIXIES’ ‘Gouge Away’ which managed to maintain the frustration, aggression and menace of the original within a new blippy machine driven setting.

Available on the NATION OF LANGUAGE single ‘Gouge Away’ via https://nationoflanguage.bandcamp.com/track/gouge-away

https://www.nationoflanguage.com/

DIE ROBO SAPIENS FanFanFanatisch (2020)

More machine than metal, DIE ROBO SAPIENS is the more purely electronic sideline of Düsseldorf industrialists DIE KRUPPS. In honour of their home city which spawned KRAFTWERK, NEU! and DAF, they covered the less internationally well-known RHEINGOLD in tribute their late leader Bodo Staiger; Given the subject matter, his powerful DAF-influenced 1982 statement on toxic fandom ‘FanFanFanatisch’ was reworked into something where the body was strong.

Available on DIE ROBO SAPIENS ‘FanFanFanatisch – The Düsseldorf EP’ via https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/fanfanfanatisch-the-d-sseldorf-ep

https://www.diekrupps.com/

JORJA CHALMERS Rhapsody (2021)

Recorded for a SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES covers album, this superb take by Jorja Chalmers on ‘Rhapsody’ off their ninth album ‘Peepshow’, made use of an intriguing electronic warble within its stripped down arrangement; from its claustrophobic cocoon, Chalmers sounds trapped in an unsettling icy soundscape of synthetic strings and choirs. The album also included covers of THE DOORS ‘Riders On The Storm’ and Enya’s ‘Boadicea’.

Available on the JORJA CHALMERS album ‘Midnight Train’ via Italians Do it Better

https://www.instagram.com/jorjachalmers/

GEMMA CULLINGFORD Ode To Billie Joe (2021)

Making her name in the duo SINK YA TEETH, Norwich-based Gemma Cullingford made her debut as a solo artist with the ‘Let Me Speak’ album. Utilising a minimal programmed backdrop, a stark spoken word reading of Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ proved to be a highlight. “I loved the melody, the fact that it was quite a happy sounding song but the lyrics seemed quite dark” she said, “Then I read the lyrics and saw just how dark they are, and I kinda jokingly said I’d do a cover of it!”

Available on the GEMMA CULLINGFORD album ‘Let Me Speak’ via Outré Disque

https://www.gemmacullingford.co.uk/

DLINA VOLNY Hollywood (2021)

Italians Do it Better were named after a legend emblazoned on a T-shirt Madonna was wearing in the ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ video and would later release a tribute compilation featuring their roster of artists. Exiled from their homeland of Belarus, DLINA VOLNY alternated a detached deepness with an unexpected pop register on their take of ‘Hollywood’ that presented the song as a much harsher warning to those seeking stardom.

Available on the DLINA VOLNY album ‘Dazed’ via Italians Do it Better

https://www.facebook.com/dlinavolny/

PSY’AVIAH featuring MARI KATTMAN Monoculture (2022)

PSY’AVIAH is the electronic rock vehicle of Belgian Yves Schelpe and in a collaboration featuring Mari Kattman of HELIX on vocals, the B-side to their ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ single was a cover of Monoculture’ which came from the first reunion of SOFT CELL in 2002. Her voice fitted perfectly to the heavier backdrop with the Marc Almond’s original commentary on the world’s cultural mediocrity as relevant as ever.

Available on the PSY’AVIAN featuring MARI KATTMAN maxi-single ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ via Alfa Matrix

https://www.facebook.com/psyaviah/

https://www.facebook.com/MariKattman

SCANNER Alone Again Naturally (2022)

Not known for his vocal work as SCANNER, Robin Rimbaud recorded a covers EP of his late mother’s favourite songs as a tribute to her memory. Using vocoder and synths, his take on ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s introspective hit song reflecting on loss and bereavement, was particularly poignant and perhaps unexpectedly given the robotic backdrop, emotional. The other songs featured were ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ and ‘When I Need You’.

Available on the SCANNER EP ‘Jayemme’ via https://scanner.bandcamp.com/album/jayemme

https://scannerdot.com/

DURAN DURAN Bury A Friend (2023)

With a vampiric intro recalling David Bowie’s ‘Cat People’, DURAN DURAN’s take on ‘Bury A Friend’ was much more direct and propulsive compared to the minimal Billie Eilish original. Swathed in jagged synth and guitar sounds as well as Simon Le Bon’s histrionic vocals, it more than fitted in with the Halloween theme of the ‘Danse Macabre’ album which was primarily made up of cover versions and darker re-recordings of Duran faves.

Available on the DURAN DURAN album ‘Danse Macabre’ via BMG / Tape Modern

https://duranduran.com/

SOFT CELL The World Turned Day-Glo (2023)

Always adept at doing covers having had hits with ‘Tainted Love’ and ‘What’, SOFT CELL presented a brilliant electro tribute to Poly Styrene with ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’. Taking a musical leaf out of ‘Sex Dwarf’ with Dave Ball making his syndrums and synths sound so menacing yet accessible, while Marc Almond delivers a vocal recalling the anguish of ‘Martin’ with sleazy sax passages resonating with the dystopian lyrics.

Available on the SOFT CELL album ‘*Happiness now completed’ via BMG

http://www.softcell.co.uk

RICKY WILDE x NINA Lovers On A Beach (2023)

A fabulous cover of the Italo flavoured Kim Wilde B-side to ‘The Second Time’ from 1984, the throbbing ‘Lovers On A Beach’ saw NINA sounding sexier than ever before. Ricky Wilde said “I just thought there was a little bit more that it needed that I maybe wanted to add back in the day”. With sharp spikey edges boosting the trancey template, he provided a superb extended end section that paid homage to Giorgio Moroder in the best way possible.

Available on the RICKY WILDE X NINA album ‘Scala Hearts’ via New Retro Wave

https://twitter.com/Wildericky

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

SALLY SHAPIRO Rent – NICOLAAS remix (2023)

Covered by acts as diverse CARTER THE UNSTOBBALE SEX MACHINE and Liza Minnelli, the latest interpretation of PET SHOP BOYS stark narrative of a kept woman came via this wispy account by Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO. Keeping the relationship dependency theme close to its heart but offering an icier Nordic vision from a female perspective, the sax of Steve Moore provided extra sleaze to the NICOLAAS remix.

Available on the SALLY SHAPIRO single ‘Rent’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally

NIGHT CLUB The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum (2024)

‘Masochist’ was the highly appropriate title for the fourth NIGHT CLUB album, a dystopian prophecy that came true! Written by FUN BOY THREE in 1981 as a metaphor by to the dangerous posturing games played by Ronald Reagan aka “The Cowboy” during The Cold War, the inclusion of a cover of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’ became even more sinister with the ultimate lunatic duo of Donald Trump and JD Vance now given control of the nuclear button…

Available on the NIGHT CLUB album ‘Masochist’ via Gato Blanco

https://www.facebook.com/nightclubband

PROPAGANDA Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte (2024)

Starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper recruited young German singer Thunder Bae. Her talent shined with a superbly enticing performance in a haunting cover of ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’, a Weimar-era song written by Friedrich Hollaender in 1930 that was made famous by Marlene Dietrich. The song had been also used for a controversial scene in the 1974 film ‘The Night Porter’.

Available on the PROPAGANDA album ‘Propaganda’ via by Bureau B

https://propband.tilda.ws/

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s ‘A Fistful Of Electronic Covers’ playlist featuring reinterpretations through the ages can be heard via Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/12XFwF5iuLj3Jl7Tj2GTpE

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th April 2025

THE ELECTRONIC LEGACY OF 1985

9 January 2025 /

Electronic pop music laid slightly wounded in 1985.

It was a year of transition as DEPECHE MODE did not release a new album, but consolidated with a handy compilation ‘The Singles 81-85’ although its very weak new track ‘It’s Called A Heart’ was thankfully not a sign of things to come.

Meanwhile after the critical acclaim with their debut single, the Bobby Orlando produced version of ‘West End Girls’ in 1984, PET SHOP BOYS were struggling to gain traction despite signing a deal with EMI with their first single for the label ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)’ which stalled on its first release at No116; but a re-recorded version of ‘West End Girls’ produced by Stephen Hague issued towards the end of 1985 would change fortunes in time for the start of 1986.

One of the key singles of 1985 was ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ by Grace Jones; wonderful, sun-kissed funky pop in its radio version, producer Trevor Horn took the multiple remix approach he had piloted with FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to its zenith with the parent album. Having worked endlessy to come up with the perfect version and therefore different approaches, rather than actually do a collection of songs, why not do an album that was effectively multiple remixes and interpretations of one song?

The rise of FM synthesis, sampling and computer controlled systems during 1984, sidechained to the success of more guitar driven acts such as U2 and THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS in America, meant that traditional instruments and realistic presets were now the new badge of honour as music made with the inventive electronic sounds prevalent during Synth Britannia faced a backlash. EURYTHMICS moved away from synths to a more conventional band sound while THE SMITHS would continue to be held up by the music press as purer flagbearers of “real music” with Morrissey having already declared “there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer…”

An early indicator of where things were heading came when ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ was released by SIMPLE MINDS in February 1985 in the US as the theme to a new teen angst movie ‘The Breakfast Club’. Written by Steve Schiff with Keith Forsey who already had co-writes for ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Never Ending Story’ to his name, Radio1’s Richard Skinner called the song “bland” but highly FM radio friendly, it was an American No1 before the start of the Summer and was one of centrepieces of the US leg of Live Aid at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The event coincided with an explosion in corporate rock and “DDD” music made for the up-and-coming CD format by the likes of DIRE STRAITS.

This more rock-infused but technically polished new wave sound would be key to TEARS FOR FEARS’ huge success across the Atlantic with their second album ‘Songs From The Big Chair’. It saw bands like VITAMIN Z adopting that style and they even went as far as hiring Ross Cullum who co-produced TEARS FOR FEARS debut to helm their first album ‘Rites Of Passage’; despite a UK tour opening for Midge Ure, although sales were not forthcoming, singer Geoff Barradale would later use his experience to great effect when he managed ARCTIC MONEYS and took them to stardom.

The most disappointing record of 1985 was ‘Crush’ by OMD; while producer Stephen Hague made their sound more palatable for Trans-Atlantic consumption with more guitars, piano and acoustic drums as exemplified by the uninspiring single ‘So In Love’, the inner sleeve credit of “electronic keyboards” instead of individual synths as on ‘Dazzle Ships’ and ‘Junk Culture or “synthesizers” as on previous albums was a pointer to the blanding out of this once great band for a wider audience in the US.

Despite synths being less desirable in terms of Trans-Atlantic marketability in the move away from cooler European artistry, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been able to assemble a list of 20 albums seen as being part of the admittedly weaker electronic legacy of 1985. Listed in alphabetical order, there is a restriction of one album per artist moniker.

ABC How To Be A Zillionaire!

After the rockisms of ‘Beauty Stab’, the third ABC album sprung a major surprise in its New York electro flavoured lead single ‘How To Be A Millionaire’. “We saw it happening in Times Square, there were B-Boys doing that whole thing to KRAFTWERK which was just amazing. The minute the Emulator II came out, we bought one. No need to pay a Fairlight programmer £750 a day!” said Mark White; ‘Fear Of The World’ would later be sampled for the ELECTRONIC B-side ‘Lean To The Inside’.

‘How To Be A Zillionaire!’ is still available via Mercury Records

https://www.abcmartinfry.com/

A-HA Hunting High & Low

Despite being labelled a teenybop group, from the beginning A-HA were always so much more than just the catchy pop of ‘Take On Me’. Containing another three hit singles, there was the wistful ‘Hunting High & Low’ title song while ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’ revealed a lyrical darkness as the combination of synths and edgy guitar put them in the same league as ULTRAVOX and ASSOCIATES. But ‘Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale’ was the track that outlined A-HA had longevity.

‘Hunting High & Low’ is still available via Rhino Entertainment

https://a-ha.com/

ARCADIA So Red The Rose

In response to THE POWER STATION, ARCADIA was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor’s attempt to be JAPAN, smothered in an esoteric pond of lush arty indulgence. ‘Election Day’ featuring Grace Jones could have been a DURAN DURAN song, as could ‘The Flame’ which bore a resemblance to ‘A View To A Kill’. But ‘Goodbye Is Forever’ was art funk that pointed to where DURAN DURAN would head with ‘Notorious’.

‘So Red The Rose’ is still available via EMI Music

https://duranduran.com/

ASSOCIATES Perhaps

With the departure of Alan Rankine after ‘Sulk’, Billy Mackenzie recruited Martyn Ware and Martin Rushent on its follow-up ‘Perhaps’. Although more glossy in sound, the Rushent produced ‘Waiting For The Love Boat’ could have easily come off ‘Sulk’ while ‘Those First Impressions’ produced by Ware narrowly failed to crack the UK Top40. But the epic string laden drama of ‘Breakfast’ helmed by Rushent was possibly Mackenzie’s greatest single moment.

‘Perhaps’ is still available via Warner Music

http://www.billymackenzie.com/

BLANCMANGE Believe You Me

Despite good crossover songs such as ‘Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone?’ and ‘Lorraine’s My Nurse’, with synthpop now no longer in-vogue, there was a lukewarm reception for the third BLANCMANGE album ‘Believe You Me’. With a proclamation from Neil Arthur that “I feel like I’m losin’ my mind” in the electro-funk of ‘22339’, it led to him and Luscombe calling it a day in order to protect their friendship after a show at the Royal Albert Hall.

‘Believe You Me’ is still available via London Records

https://www.blancmange.co.uk/

CHINA CRISIS Flaunt The Imperfection

Produced by Walter Becker of STEELY DAN, the influence of his band on ‘Flaunt The Imperfection’ resulted in much more of a live soulful feel with the contribution of accomplished session musicians while Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon focussed on the songwriting. Classic CHINA CRISIS songs like ‘Black Man Ray’ and ‘King In A Catholic Style’ secured two UK Top20 hits from a single album for the first time.

‘Flaunt The Imperfection’ is still available via Caroline International

https://www.facebook.com/chinacrisisofficial

DEAD OR ALIVE Youthquake

DEAD OR ALIVE looked like they’d missed the boat when their rivals FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD reached No1 with ‘Relax’. Having heard ‘You Think You’re A Man’ by Divine, Burns recruited the song’s production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman to work on ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ which hit the top of the UK singles chart. The eventual ‘Youthquake’ album was a mixed bag, but included another hit ‘In Too Deep’ and the gothic funk epic ‘It’s Been A Long Time’.

‘Youthquake’ is still available via Edsel Records

https://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/catalogue/releases/dead-or-alive-youthquake-40th-anniversary-edition-4cd/

JANSEN BARBIERI Worlds In A Small Room

After JAPAN, drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri formed a new creative partnership. ‘Worlds In A Small Room’ was an instrumental suite commissioned by JVC to accompany a documentary about the Space Shuttle Challenger. ‘Breaking The Silence’ was a beautiful opening piece with elements recalling Ryuichi Sakamoto while the more structured ‘Moving Circles’ had a Jansen vocal added for the Japanese release’s bonus song ‘Move In Circles’.

‘Worlds In A Small Room’ is currently unavailable

https://www.stevejansen.net/

http://www.richardbarbieri.co.uk/

HOWARD JONES Dream Into Action

Thanks to the success of his debut album ‘Human’s Lib’, the follow-up ‘Dream Into Action’ was written by Howard Jones on the road by necessity; “I was writing in dressing rooms on an Akai 12 track recorder…” he said, “we were experimenting a lot so it’s a much more complex record”. There were hopeful anthems in ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ and ‘Life In One Day’ while the plaintive ‘No One Is To Blame’ would become a huge Trans-Atlantic hit in a new version produced by Phil Collins.

‘Dream Into Action’ is still available via Cherry Red Records

http://www.howardjones.com/

NEW ORDER Low-life

‘Low-life’ saw for the first time, a single ‘The Perfect Kiss’ taken from a NEW ORDER album as a compromise following a new US deal with Qwest Records. ‘Low-life’ featured several other highlights and opened with the Country ‘n’ North Western ghost story ‘Love Vigilantes’. The mighty ‘Sunrise’ was another number in the tit-for-that exchange with THE CURE which was clearly influenced by ‘A Forest’ while the brilliant ‘This Time Of Night’ exuded a throbbing post-punk growl.

‘Low-life’ is still available via Rhino

https://www.neworder.com/

GARY NUMAN The Fury

Co-produced with PPG operators The Wave Team, ‘The Fury’ was the best Gary Numan album since ‘Telekon’. Although very much with the times and in line with acts like FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD and DEAD OR ALIVE, the hard but bright digital sound complimented Numan’s downbeat lyricism. Among the highlights were ‘Call Out The Dogs’, ‘Tricks’ and ‘Miracles’ while the haunting closing track ‘I Still Remember’ was a vocal reimagining of the 1979 instrumental ‘Random’.

‘The Fury’ is still available via Eagle Records

https://garynuman.com/

PHILIP OAKEY & GIORGIO MORODER Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder

After the worldwide success of ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ and the lukewarm response to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Hysteria’ in 1984, Virgin Records swiftly despatched Philip Oakey to record an album with Giorgio Moroder. ‘Now’ was Oakey’s heartfelt commentary on economic corruption while the thumping side one segue of ‘Why Must The Show Go On?’, ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ and ‘Take A Chance’ was a thrilling train ride.

‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://www.giorgiomoroder.com/

PROPAGANDA A Secret Wish

Düsseldorf’s PROPAGANDA were dubbed “ABBA in Hell”! The magnificent film noir of ‘Dr Mabuse’ was their opening salvo produced by Trevor Horn. The producer’s helm was handed over to engineer Stephen J Lipson for the album ‘A Secret Wish’. ‘Duel’ exuded an accessible ice maiden cool while the Teutonic ‘P.Machinery’ was full of state of the art technical tricks. With the lengthy and poetic ‘Dream Within A Dream’, the listener was taken on a massive sonic adventure.

‘A Secret Wish’ is still available via ZTT / BMG

https://propband.tilda.ws/

SCRITTI POLITTI Cupid & Psyche 85

The first major label SCRITTI POLITTI LP ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ contained the 1984 Arif Mardin produced hits ‘Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)’ and ‘Absolute’, the latter also seeing input from Gary Langan and JJ Jeczalik of THE ART OF NOISE. Green Gartside embraced of mainstream dance pop and state-of-the-art studio production with new song writing partner David Gamson. Meanwhile self-produced reggae inflected ‘The Word Girl returned to sound of earlier Scritti.

‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://www.scritti.net/

SIMPLE MINDS Once Upon A Time

After the harder new rock sound of ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ produced by Steve Lillywhite, SIMPLE MINDS brought the synths back in, albeit with a Trans-Atlantic sheen helmed by American production heavyweights Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. Despite the modern FM rock bombast which even included a rhythm n blues flavour on ‘Sanctify Yourself’, ‘Alive & Kicking’ saw Mick McNeil’s Gaelic accordion virtuosity applied to electronic keyboards for a huge hit in the US and Europe.

‘Once Upon A Time’ is still available via Universal Music

https://www.simpleminds.com/

YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI Once A Fool,…

“Spreading out” rather than splitting, Yukihiro Takahashi still had his YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA band mates Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto playing on seventh solo album ‘Once A Fool,…’; as could be expected from Japan’s answer to Bryan Ferry, this was a sophisticated production with strong percussive backdrops. ‘Providence (Subarashiki Gensou)’ was a particularly uplifting highlight while there was also a cover of Todd Rundgren’s ‘I Saw The Light’.

‘Once A Fool,…’ is still available via TENT

http://www.ymo.org/

TEARS FOR FEARS Songs From The Big Chair

DespiteTEARS FOR FEARS adopting more guitar compared to its predecessor ‘The Hurting’, the more band oriented ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ were still characterised by electronics and rhythm programming in its backbone. Cold War angst provided the tension to ‘Shout’ and the big American driving hit ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ while ‘Head Over Heels’ with its blistering synth solo was another Stateside hit, later in the 2001 psychological thriller ‘Donnie Darko’.

‘Songs From The Big Chair’ is still available via Universal Music

https://tearsforfears.com/

WINSTON TONG Theoretically Chinese

Produced by Alan Rankine, ‘Theoretically Chinese’ was as much of an electronic pop departure for Winston Tong from TUXEDMOON as Robert Görl’s ‘Night Full Of Tension’ was from DAF. The era’s inherent Cold War tensions also loomed large on the fine pulsing opener ‘Big Brother’ as well as an excellent uptempo cover of Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Broken English’ while ‘Reports From The Heart’ provided an elegant sweeping ballad.

‘Theoretically Chinese’ is still available via LTM

https://www.ltmrecordings.com/theoretically_chinese_ltmcd2382.html

MIDGE URE The Gift

Midge Ure finally took the solo album plunge with ‘The Gift’. Songs like ‘When The Wind Blows’, ‘That Certain Smile’ and the title track sounded like ULTRAVOX enough to potentially worry his bandmates. But ULTRAVOX would never have covered JETHRO TULL’s ‘Living In The Past’ or recorded the lovey-dovey UK No1 single ‘If I Was’ which was rescued from the unreleased vaults of MESSENGERS whose instrumentalist Danny Mitchell was Ure’s main collaborator on this great adventure.

‘The Gift’ is still available via Chrysalis Records

http://www.midgeure.co.uk/

YELLO Stella

‘Stella’ was the first album YELLO made without founder member Carlos Perón; Boris Blank and Dieter Meier headed towards a more cinematic style of experimental pop, making greater use of the Fairlight and digital synths. It included the delightful ‘Vicious Games’ featuring vocals by Rush Winters but the album’s biggest track was ‘Oh Yeah’ which ended up in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, ‘The Secret of My Success’ and ‘The Simpsons’.

‘Stella’ is still available via Universal Music

https://www.yello.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th January 2025

2024 END OF YEAR REVIEW

27 December 2024 /

Image by Simon Helm

Me? Definitely Won’t Be! Join the #SynthResistance

When ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK came into being in March 2010, synth was still on a recovery path and it seemed PET SHOP BOYS were the only act continuing to fly the flag successfully having been awarded the BRIT Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’ the previous year.

While DEPECHE MODE and SIMPLE MINDS had released albums in 2009, their latest material showed few signs of their imperial phases. BLANCMANGE, NEW ORDER and SOFT CELL had not yet returned, ULTRAVOX were still to release ‘Brilliant’ despite a well-received live return and while THE HUMAN LEAGUE were regulars on the live circuit, they had not issued a new album for 9 years. Meanwhile OMD and DURAN DURAN were in a state of creative flux having released disappointing albums in ‘History Of Modern’ and ‘Red Carpet Massacre’ respectively.

However in 2024, most of these acts are performing to sizeable audiences and while ULTRAVOX may have called it a day in 2013, Midge Ure continues to tour with songs from ‘Vienna’, ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ and ‘Lament’. For these heritage acts, the concert circuit is now very lucrative and a testament to their music still standing up after several decades and most importantly for longevity, appealing to new and younger audiences.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

But for new synth music generally, particularly in Britain, it appeared to be in decline although these signs had been very apparent over the past few years. One thing that has been significant about ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024 was that on only 4 occasions was there full or part representation from the nation that seeded Synth Britannia… how the mighty have fallen! And when Taylor Swift is doing better electronic pop songs than most, then there’s a real problem!

First time around during 1994 to 1997, Britpop had as good as killed off the synth and with the news of the OASIS live reunion in 2025 grabbing all the headlines, it looks as though history is repeating itself. But everything is cyclical and there was a backlash against guitar bands after the new millennium began. There is hope yet but while a MIRRORS reunion is unlikely any time soon, it takes darkness to appreciate the light so anything is possible 😉

2024 was a year fraught with uncertainty and this was reflected musically. With ongoing political tensions in their homeland and having spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, MOLCHAT DOMA relocated from Belarus to Los Angeles. Their excellent fourth album ‘Belaya Polosa’ channelled the anxiety and fear of that journey into exile and literally saw the trio change from sounding like JOY DIVISION to sounding like NEW ORDER. But have they walked from the frying pan into the fryer?

Released back in March before the US Elections, one of the best albums of 2024, ‘Masochist’ by NIGHT CLUB became a dystopian prophecy come true. Emotions were summed up by the inclusion of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’, a cover of the song by FUN BOY THREE. Written as a metaphor to the dangerous posturing games played by “The Cowboy” Ronald Reagan in 1981 during The Cold War, today the even crazier orange face is back followed by his flock of mindless MAGA sheep…

‘If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next’ sang MANIC STREET PREACHERS and more than ever in the UK, it is important to stand against the retarded racist scum getting behind the neo-fascist posturings of that pompous grifter Nigel Farage to cover up for their own life failings. Add in a crackpot billionaire who inherited blood money made during the vile South African Apartheid regime, playing a real life Dr Evil by throwing his cash into the far right and supporting the new Nazis in Germany of the AfD, and the world is in a very precarious position right now. Quoting Midge Ure who recently gave new live renditions of the ironically monikered RICH KIDS’ sadly relevant 1978 anti-Nazi anthem: “NEVER AGAIN DO I WANT TO HEAR THE SOUND OF MARCHING MEN!”

Anglo-German duo KALEIDA experienced an existential crisis due to the pressures of parenting and the shifting patterns of life. But Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder managed to make their long distance creative partnership work again and their reward was their third album ‘In Arms’. As the title suggested, it has been an impassioned battle capturing 3 years of artistic perseverance and reinforced their sense of purpose.

On a more personal level, Anglo-French artist Julia-Sophie delved deeper into the complexities of relationships by exploring themes of self-destruction, tenderness, love and emotional struggles. This is what happens when people ‘forgive too slow’ but swathed in an intriguing electronic sound, her understated fulfilment combined emotional unease with an airy beauty for some satisfying thoughtful listening for another of the best albums of 2024.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

With the onset of climate change but still those in denial despite the scientific proof, Patricia Wolf conceived ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’. Having recorded various bird songs and calls, curiosity led her to become a conservationist and while her music was very beautiful at times, there were darker moments of angst and sadness driven by concern. Birds and their behaviour have been a creative haven for artists of a more ambient persuasion and Masayoshi Fujita continued his avian fascination on his new work ‘Migratory’.

Loula Yorke presented her new ‘Volta’ and the wonderful opener ‘It’s been decided that if you lay down no-one will die’ acted as a bittersweet meditation on overwhelm, an emotion many were feeling. For Finlay Shakespeare, his creative journey appeared to have taken its emotional toll and ‘Directions Out Of Town’ reflected turbulent times and was touted as possibly his last album. Meanwhile Polish producer ZAMILSKA summed feelings up with the impassioned ‘United Kingdom Of Anxiety’ as another exile from Belarus CHIKISS captured this moment ‘Between Time & Laziness’.

Photo by Thomas Stelzmann

While a new PET SHOP BOYS album was always on the cards and they duly delivered with their fifteenth ‘Nonetheless’, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA was perhaps on not on anyone’s bingo card at the start of 2024. Featuring the sultry vocals of Thunder Bae, PROPAGANDA presented an eponymous long player to signify a fresh start with the closing cover ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’ being a key highlight.

There were several key esoteric releases in 2024; Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller released their third volume of ‘Electronic Music Improvisations’ as SUNROOF while Heiko Maile and Julian DeMarre offered ‘Neostalgia’, leaving Jori Hulkkonen with some ‘Hurt Humour’. And like a greeting from wherever he is now in the universe, Klaus Schulze had ‘101, Milky Way’ posthumously released in a continuation of his vast electronic legacy.

In 2024, there were albums released where 90 to 100% of the content comprised of previously released singles; one of those was the debut album by LEATHERS, the side-project of ACTORS keyboardist Shannon Hemmett which explored her love of dark electronic pop. Another was the appropriately titled ‘VII’ by Swedish duo KITE which was their seventh body of work containing music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years, gathering the power and the glory of their ambition.

Using a similar strategy,  R. MISSING finally released an album ‘Knife Shook Your Hand’ after years of embracing a scattergun standalone song approach which at times was frustrating to follow, especially with today’s now widely embraced Netflix-led home and mobile entertainment methodology of “binge watching” TV series.

Photo by Volker Maass

CAMOUFLAGE finally took their ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ tour on the German road with a show look backing on four decades. Meanwhile celebrating 45 years of BLANCMANGE, ‘Everything Is Connected’ was a new career-spanning collection supported by a tour where Neil Arthur supported himself with his collaborative side project THE REMAINDER. Celebrating 25 years of the multi-million selling ‘Play’, Moby delivered a mighty greatest hits set in front of a packed house at London’s O2 Arena as well as highlights from that album.

Midge Ure aired his catalogue of his greatest hits and with so many ULTRAVOX songs part of the set, it was difficult not to think of his departed bandmate Chris Cross who passed away this year. Another sad loss in 2024 who had connections to ULTRAVOX and their former leader John Foxx was the iconic photographer Brian Griffin; his other subjects included DEPECHE MODE, OMD, SPANDAU BALLET and TALK TALK.

With 16 tracks speeding through its restless 40 minutes, ‘Powder Dry’ saw Tim Bowness revisiting his passion for the post-punk and electronic pop acts of his teens, having opened for the solo Billy Currie version of ULTRAVOX and worked with members of JAPAN while in his first band NO-MAN with Steven Wilson; of course the latter has been behind the spate of new remixes of ULTRAVOX for their series of lavish boxed sets.

A number of veterans returned after long new release absences. Michel Moers, best known as the front man of Belgian electronic trailblazers TELEX released what was only his second solo studio album ‘As Is’ and had Claudia Brücken guest on its lead single ‘Microwaves. Meanwhile after several years in the making, Harald Grosskopf presented ‘Strom’, translated from German as “electricity”.

Across the Atlantic, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Geneva Jacuzzi gave a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X and her third album ‘Triple Fire’ was an enjoyably delightful mix of accessible electronic pop and energetic art chaos. Comprising of North America’s alternative music power couple Tom Shear and Mari Kattman, HELIX took their fans to an ‘Unimaginable Place’ as another US based couple XENO & OAKLANDER further refined their precise yet spirited productions for their eight album ‘Via Negativa (in the doorway light)’.

Newer North American acts making a splash were IMMORTAL GIRLFRIEND and Canada’s MINDREADER while Los Angeles-based duo DIE SEXUAL finally brought their erotic charge to the stage opening for the likes of IAMX and LEÆTHER STRIP. But the most promising act emerging stateside were Haute & Freddy.

Photo by Tim Darin

For the past few years, Alison Lewis has focussed on her ZANIAS solo venture but she was back playing live with Ryan Ambridge as LINEA ASPERA in the summer with the pair having been quietly writing and recording new material together. Having found TikTok fame performing synthwave styled covers, DREAMKID released his second album ‘Daggers’ to capitalise on his social media traction while both exploring much darker climes, CURSES and CZARINA released their third full length albums.

In Europe, Belgian duo METROLAND released their sixth album ‘Forum’ as well as simultaneously maintaining their solo projects 808 DOT POP and LECTREAU. In Sweden, Johan Agebjörn was a very busy man releasing EPs with Yota and Mikael Ögren while also announcing he has a work-in-progress with NINA; the Queen of Synthwave’s own musical partnership with RADIO WOLF was developing nicely, with a European tour opening for CANNONS giving the couple a chance to showcase their darker sound.

As the summer ended, IONNALEE ambitiously issued her new album simultaneously in English and Swedish while Norwegian neighbours PISTON DAMP declared there were “No Points For Trying” as they launched the more pessimistic instalment of their twin volume ‘Mastermind’ album venture.

Photo by Joanna Wzorek

Presenting the second volume of their ‘Midnight Confessions’ series, ITALOCONNECTION were back with their vintage but modern style of Italo disco while Greco-German trio DINA SUMMER showed that good electronic dance music with a grittier impassioned outlook was alive and well in Berlin. Also based in the former divided city, Polish DJ and producer CHARLIE emerged as one of the promising new stars on the Italo-Proto scene.

Retrospective sets can often compile another time, another place as exemplified by releases this year from Bryan Ferry, Peter Baumann and NO-MAN proved. But the best one came from FRANK CHICKENS whose ‘Ninja Legends 1983-1989’ captured them in their quirky prime, especially on the collection of BBC radio  sessions which made it an essential purchase. On the book front, ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’ was among the best.

The desire to revisit the past became a major thing in 2024, as exemplified by the frenzy surrounding the sale of tickets for the OASIS reunion shows which were among the first in the UK to employ the dreaded but perfectly legal scam of dynamic pricing. But the need to see any band years past their commercial peak with the likelihood of a less accomplished performance than before, be it vocally, musically or energetically, was a head scratching prospect. The music world has been trying to make up for lost time and money since 2021 but the post-covid gig bubble may have now burst.

With ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK having seen many bands back in the day at their best, the shows now available with a hint of nostalgia may not have been universally appealing as they were to those who were too young or not even born to have attended first time around. But paradoxically thanks to the dearth of new quality music, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK found itself listening to podcasts of old people talking about old music! So it was an honour to be invited by host Iain McDermott to chat about our favourite year in music 1981 for his wonderful ‘Back To NOW’ podcast centred around the noted compilation album series.

‘The Album Years’ hosted by Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness remarked that “talking about music IS the new music” and on the most knowledgeable, passionate and humorous podcasts, hosts were able to express their opinion and say a record or an artist was “sh*t” without immediate fear of social media retorts while also praising where praise was deserved!

But during a recent edition of ‘The Small Town Boys’, Clark Datchler of JOHNNY HATES JAZZ remarked that while music critics back in the day could be “cynical” and “nasty”, today they are at the other extreme and “sycophants now” with “hardly any criticism of records released” – this everything is brilliant mentality has undoubtedly led to an acceptance of mediocrity and a lack of perspective in a monoculture of medium pleasure.

With those forthright and articulate expressions key to their success, live presentations of these podcasts in theatres and arenas are becoming increasingly popular and profitable thanks to lower overheads, especially when compared to concerts.

Among ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s favourite music podcasts in 2024 were ‘Word In Your Ear’ presented by former Smash Hits and Q editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, ‘Electronically Yours With Martyn Ware’ and ‘The Giddy Carousel of Pop’ discussing the history of Smash Hits. But best of all was the more general podcast ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’ hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde which is part of Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Podcast empire also behind ‘The Rest Is Politics’, ‘The Rest Is History’, ‘The Rest Is Money’, ‘The Rest Is Classified’ and ‘The Rest Is Football’; one suspects the popular socially conscious former footballer will not miss the BBC the way it will miss him 😉

If 2023 was something of a strange year, 2024 might have actually been stranger. There is a glimmer of hope for the future, but the signs are already there that things may get worse, be it socially, politically, environmentally or culturally… sometimes, people really do deserve what they get!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 2024 playlist ‘The Great Bleep Forward’ containing over 235 tracks from the year can be listened to on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4xMrAkCbeWvUmTfrN6i6Gu

Text by Chi Ming Lai
27th December 2024

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