It was Maurice Ravel who once said: “Whatever sauce you put around the melody is a matter of taste. What is important is the melodic line”.
What Lloyd Cole has always managed within his songs throughout his career, be it ‘Perfect Skin’, ‘Rattlesnakes’, ‘Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?, ‘Brand New Friend’ or ‘Like Lovers Do’ is strong melodic lines. Coupled with his bittersweet lyricism, he has been one of the UK’s leading exponents of masterful glum rock. But for ‘Guesswork’
Cole actually first experimented with synthesizers and songs on 1993’s ‘Bad Vibes’, but considering it an artistic failure, it led to the songsmith keeping his future electronic interests purely instrumental and his songwriting traditional, and “never the twain shall meet”.
Cole eventually recorded an experimental album ‘Selected Studies Volume 1’
Self-produced in Massachusetts and mixed by German producer Olaf Opal, despite reuniting with two former Commotions bandmates Neil Clark and Blair Cowan for the first time since 1987’s ‘Mainstream’, ‘Guesswork’ focusses on synthesizers and programming. Referencing CHINA CRISIS and PREFAB SPROUT, Cole has also expressed a love of SUICIDE, ULTRAVOX, PET SHOP BOYS and LCD SOUNDSYSYTEM.
Certainly the application of his synthesizer knowhow became fully realised for the album’s wonderful first single ‘Violins’. On first impression, Cole appears to have turned into OMD, but the man himself cites Robert Palmer’s cult electronic pop favourite ‘Johnny & Mary’ as its main inspiration, especially in its incessant synthbass and Motorik backbone. The violin is often seen as a symbol of self-pity and while the move might have surprised his regular fanbase, ‘Violins’ did include a hefty guitar solo at its conclusion to not totally alienate them.
Not in a dissimilar vein to ‘Violins’, the shimmering ‘Moments & Whatnots’ is the most KRAFTWERK-esque of the eight tracks on ‘Guesswork’, with its simplistic electronic percussion and synthetic sparkles recalling ‘Neon Lights’. But as a song and in its afflicted delivery, it couldn’t really be anyone else but Lloyd Cole.
However, the biggest surprise comes with ‘When I Came Down From The Mountain’, a bouncy drumbox driven synthpop number. With jazzier electronic inflections that Thomas Dolby would have been proud of, its chorus even nods towards the era of Dolby-produced PREFAB SPROUT.
Meanwhile with some kosmische modular sequencing, ‘Night Sweats’ utilises a pentatonic aesthetic that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an early CHINA CRISIS record, although some eagle-eared listeners will point a finger towards THE CLASH’s ‘Straight To Hell’.
But ‘Guesswork’ begins with an almost silent ambient drone; while in ‘Stranger Things’, they fear ‘The Upside Down’, Cole muses hauntingly about the aura of ‘The Over Under’.
Meanwhile on the cinematic ‘Remains’, synths beautifully substitute for orchestrations and brass arrangements in the manner of THE BLUE NILE. These songs cleverly offer the new electronic direction without being too threatening, a subtle change of sauce without ruining anyone’s appetite.
Decorated with some great E-bowed six string, the solemn swinging overtures of ‘The Afterlife’ show that Cole has learnt from John Grant, probably the best known modern day defector from the traditional to the electronic, while ‘The Loudness Wars’ provides a relatable metaphor to the breakdown of a relationship in a fine hybrid synth and guitar closer, swathed in glorious midlife angst.
Yes, his poetic melancholy does remain, but as Lloyd Cole recently said: “Now I’m starting to think that old age could be a lot more fun. Because really what have we got to lose?”
After all, how many veteran singer-songwriter guitarists decide that electronics are the way to go? Whether long-standing enthusiasts or new admirers, many will find a lot of joy within Lloyd Cole’s sophisticated artistic diversion on ‘Guesswork’.
‘Guesswork’
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Text by Chi Ming Lai
27th July 2019
in 2016, Booth’s latest offering is a five track affair entitled 
; having learned some lessons from some of the more overdriven aspects of that first release, ‘Yellow Fervor’ has better production values and adds a funkier twist to proceedings.
is released by Stratotester Records and available digitally via the usual online outlets
is released as a download single by Gramophone Records
was not included on the debut FAD GADGET long player ‘Fireside Favourites’ that came out a few months later, but it helped establish Mute Records’ credentials as an early champion of independent electronic music.
via Mute Records
was a worthy transitional recording although where Foxx headed next was the more romantic and band oriented textures of ‘The Garden’, with former ULTRAVOX guitarist Robin Simon returning to the fold.
via Metamatic Records
was not a hit on its original release, but the world belatedly caught up when a remixed reissue reached No11 in 1982.
via Virgin Records
was the posthumous hit single that documented the relationship turmoil which JOY DIVISION’s lead singer Ian Curtis was facing prior to his suicide. The initial attempt at recording had been much faster and tighter, but producer Martin Hannett slowed the band down and suggested Curtis take on a more Sinatra based drawl. The looser end result added further weight and poignancy.
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via Beggars Banquet
was the first recorded offering from THE BLUE NILE and the highly acclaimed esoteric template that later emerged on ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’ was already omnipresent. Rawer and more aggressive than songs like ‘Stay’ and ‘Tinseltown In The Rain’, this was a fine opening gambit from the enigmatic Glaswegian trio who had met at university. Originally self-released on their own Peppermint Records, the single was picked up by RSO who promptly folded after its re-release.
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co-produced by Mike Hedges was an interim 45 offering prior to the doomfest of ‘Pornography’. The band’s potential for success now looked like a real threat as The Raincoat Brigade seeked out a successor to JOY DIVISION. But as Robert Smith found his voice, by late 1982 he’d lightened up for the first of THE CURE’s fantasy singles, ‘Let’s Go to Bed’.
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. The multi-lingual phrases strewn over the bridge highlighted an expanding world market while Glenn Gregory provided commentary on how personal relationships were like business transactions. Often a forgotten HEAVEN 17 single, it has since returned to their live set.
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, a song that had not been included on the final tracklisting of their second album ‘The Friends Of Mr Cairo’. Anderson’s lyrics were almost spiritual while the widescreen sonic backing from his Greek chum complimented the mood. Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou himself was about to enter his most high profile period with ‘Chariots Of Fire’ and ‘Blade Runner’.
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being appended to the album. However, it failed to make the UK Top40 despite being re-issued.
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effectively bookended Marc Almond and Dave Ball’s imperial pop period which had started with ‘Tainted Love’. Another song that came via the Northern Soul scene, it was originally recorded by Judy Street and had more than a passing resemblance to ‘Always Something There To Remind Me’. The recording was quickly disowned and was to be SOFT CELL’s last Top10 single before the duo entered much darker musical territory and on the path to ‘Mr Self Destruct’.
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allowed Clarke to put his newly acquired Fairlight CMI through its paces, while a gospel flavour came from SYLVIA & THE SAPPHIRES.
via Music Club Deluxe
could be seen as a cynical attempt to ensure DURAN DURAN attained the coveted UK No1 slot. Nick Rhodes made it clear the song was not going to be on the next Duran album while completely different versions featured on each of the 7 and 12 inch formats. One of their most synth laden singles, it featured that dreadfully unforgettable line “You’re about as easy as a nuclear war”!
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featured a charming four way call-and-response vocal while the huge use of portamento on the lead synth line fooled a number of buyers into returning their singles to the shops, thinking it was warped!
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was considerably less harsh than his band’s pioneering electronic body music. Although not featured on Görl’s first solo album ‘Night Full Of Tension’, ‘Mit Dir’ did much to help lighten his mood considerably, so much so that he was even attempting synthpop with contributions from EURYTHMICS’ Annie Lennox on songs like ‘Darling Don’t Leave Me’.
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was a brilliantly glorious statement with Billy Currie’s OSCar interventions being its undoubted musical highlight.
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was the bridge between the industrial flavoured synthpop of ‘Some Great Reward’ and the darker aesthetics of ‘Black Celebration’. A much more accomplished recording than the more throwaway standalones like ‘It’s Called A Heart’ and ‘But Not Tonight’ which followed, ‘Shake The Disease’ continues to be performed live at DM shows, albeit in less interesting stripped down form with Martin Gore on lead vocals.
via Mute Records
became an unexpected American No1 on the back of the movie’s success and took Jim Kerr and Co into the stadiums of the world.
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, a one-off for London Records. Engineered by Dan Lacksman of TELEX, the middle eight featured a sonic passage that would have made Trevor Horn proud. Lines such as “I’ve been thinking we’ll get back together again someday – your hair will be some weird color by then…” reminded European audiences of how quirky SPARKS could be.
via Lil Beethoven Records
actually follows a chord progression very similar to ‘Enola Gay’. Interestingly, the song failed to enter the Top40 on its release in the UK.
via Virgin Records
is one of the Mancunian’s combo’s more under rated singles. With a synth riff borrowed from SHANNON’s ‘Let The Music Play’, it successfully combined some gritty rock energy to a solid Italo disco backbone featuring a great sequenced bassline.
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was a throbbing Moroder-inspired disco tune that borrowed counter-melodies from DONNA SUMMER’s ‘Love’s Unkind’. Independent labels such as Mute and Factory were more likely to indulge in releases that weren’t specifically tied in to albums, and it proved to be a perfect move to maintain ERASURE’s profile while they were preparing their next plan of action. Another standalone EP release ‘Abba-esque’ was a UK No1 in 1992.
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. It all seemed so camp and ridiculous in the video when Neil Tennant was singing the second verse wearing a Stetson, but then in 1992, out popped Bono doing something similar on their ‘Zoo TV’ tour!
via EMI Music
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