After releasing their self-titled 4-song EP in May 2023, Wellington-based four-piece band After the Flesh shares their new video-single, ‘Changeling,’ from the EP. The group skillfully blends elements of classic ethereal goth pop with modern dark alternative rock.

The band lineup comprises Slovenian-born frontwoman and keyboardist Maruša Sagadin (Marusha), experienced local bassist Duncan Nairn, guitarist and vocalist Alec Morris, and drummer Sam Leamy. The EP was mixed and produced by Bryan Tabuteau, based in Wellington. According to the band, the After the Flesh EP showcases significant growth from their earlier demo releases, featuring three new songs (‘Changeling,’ ‘Cold Glory,’ and ‘Daisychain’), along with an updated version of their previous video-single, ‘Perpetual Midnight,’ released in May 2021.

The accompanying video was filmed and directed by Martin Sagadin, Maruša’s sibling. Martin explains, “After the Flesh asked me to create a video after we did a photo shoot at the pinnacles, where we were in the harsh daylight among the cliffs. We decided the next project would be very glamorous, dramatic, and interior, with layers of plastic and projection, paying homage to some of our favorite New Wave music videos and concluding with a nod to The Cranberries album cover.”

You can watch the video below.

Duncan Nairn and Alec Morris shed light on the writing process behind the latest single, ‘Changeling.’ Duncan remarks, “…we initially came up with the song’s foundations in early 2020 during an incredibly productive jam session, just before the world turned upside down. If I recall correctly, I created the bassline on a synthesizer! It’s an unusual song for us because it follows a linear progression without repeating itself. The climax of the song somehow reminds me of The Cure, but that might be due to my bassline, as I’m a huge Simon Gallup fan.”

Alec adds, “The music originated from a lengthy jam session we recorded, which I then edited and wrote the lyrics to. I had Marusha in mind when writing, knowing she would be the one singing them. At the time, she often talked about leaving town but felt held back. The song is somewhat about the anxiety that arises before taking action. There are angels and devils on each side, and you’re unsure which one is right. My mind started drifting towards things like Pleasure Island from Pinocchio, which became a motif in the video. We found a film from around 1911 featuring Pleasure Island and utilized it extensively because of its captivating visuals.”

The debut self-titled EP, ‘After the Flesh,’ is now available on Bandcamp and can be streamed on all major digital music platforms.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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In 1981, 5 July to be precise, The Cure played at Belgium’s Werchter Festival to promote their album “Seventeen Seconds”. Other bands playing that year were De Kreuners, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Undertones, Toots & The Maytals and Robert Palmer.

The day before in Torhout the band had been able to play 15 songs, in Werchter they would only play 13 songs skipping “Three Imaginary Boys” and “Faith”. The Cure, consisting of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Laurence Tolhurst, was scheduled to play just before Robert Palmer and while they were playing, they were told to cut their set short by Robert Palmer’s managers.

Right after ending “Play For Today” Robert Smith says: “This is the final song because we’re not allowed to carry on anymore, cause everybody want’s to see Robert Palmer I think. It’s called ‘A Forest'”. What follows is a stretched version of “A Forest” into a 9-minute long rendition. When the band stops Simon Gallup takes the mic and yells “I hope you’re not arresting me. Fuck Robert Palmer! Fuck rock’n’roll!”. Bootlegs from that show often include that track being aptly titled “A Forest (Fuck R.P. Version)”.

Here’s said song recorded that day.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘7 Different Words For Love’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Shortly after Seasurfer’s third album “Zombies” has also been released on vinyl in addition to the earlier CD edition, the Hamburg-based dream pop duo Dirk Knight and Apolonia come up with a new version of the song “Drifting” (and a video which you can see below). “Drifting” is taken from Seasurfer’s third album “Zombies” (which was recently issued on limited edition black vinyl).

Beside the previously unreleased track “Ghost Children”, you also get 3 “Drifting” remixes by the Spanish dreamwave duo Stereoskop, the Russian shoegaze band Life On Venus and the French electro artist Giirls.

Dirk Knight explains: “For me “Drifting” is the song with the coolest bass of the whole album ‘Zombies’. For the first time I recorded all the basses by myself and learned to love playing this instrument. Basses are extremely important to us and determine the harmonies and melodies, similar to how Simon Gallup (The Cure), Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order) and Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins) are doing it. For the single and the extended mix we let the drums run straight through to make the song even more mesmerizing. I also love the bonus track ‘Ghost Children’, where we experimented a lot with heavy guitars, 80s synths and strange vocals which are partly in German. The three remixes are great as well: they all sound very different from the original version, so the EP appears somehow like an album with various songs.”

Here’s the new video.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(Photo by Momento Mori) Simon Gallup (61) has stepped out of The Cure. On Facebook, he announces his departure after almost 40 years because he is “done with the betrayal”.

“With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure ! Good luck to them all …”, the bassist writes. When a fan asks him in the comment if it’s about his health, Gallup says: “I am okay. I’m just done with the betrayal,” he writes.

The rest of the band, consisting of Robert Smith (62), Reeves Gabrels (65), Roger O’Donnell (65) and Jason Cooper (54), have not yet commented publicly on the announcement. Shortly after the announcement, Gallup deleted his Twitter account.

The second time in 42 years

Simon Jonathon Gallup was the bassist across two stints from 1979-1982 and 1984-2021. He was the longest-serving member of the band apart from lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith.

During the Pornography Tour in 1982, a series of incidents prompted Gallup to leave the Cure, including an incident on 27 May 1982 after a live performance at Hall Tivoli, Strasbourg, France when he got into a fist fight with Robert Smith at a nightclub in Strasbourg reportedly over a bar tab.

Gallup and the rest of the Cure returned to complete their ‘Fourteen Explicit Moments Tour’ in support of “Pornography”, concluding their 11 June 1982 live performance at Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium with an improvised song, “The Cure Is Dead”, with Gary Biddles singing abuse about Smith and Tolhurst. Smith, on drums, then threw his drumsticks at Biddles, and they stormed off stage. Tolhurst played bass guitar and Gallup played rhythm guitar during this last song.

This second incident, occurring weeks after the first notable incident, was more infamous and resulted in Gallup leaving the Cure to form the Cry (later renamed to Fools Dance) with Biddles and Matthieu Hartley.

In 1984, Smith asked Gallup to return to the Cure, an offer which he accepted. Since then, the two of them have remained on good terms. Gallup also served as best man at Smith’s wedding in 1988. All went well, until now it seems.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘All Too Familiar’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Iconic UK post-punk/alt act The Membranes release an EP featuring two remixes of their song “Nocturnal” by goth rock/darkwave Goth DJ Kitty Lectro.

“Nocturnal” was originally released on The Membranes new album “What Natures Gives… Nature Takes Away” on June 7th this year. Having remixed artists such as Kommunity FK, Andi Sex Gang, Beauty In Chaos (Wayne Hussey, Simon Gallup and Michael Ciravolo) and more, Kitty Lectro adds a dance floor spin to “Nocturnal”.

Frontman and The Membranes founder John Robb explains why they chose to remix the song: “‘Nocturnal’ is our death disco dance with Pan, or our dark Dionysian dislocation of the senses that has been remixed to shadowy dance floor brilliance by Kitty Lectro. It is from our new double album “What Nature Gives… Nature Takes Away” and examines the beauty and violence of nature, in which we took our bass-driven post-punk and added choirs to it to create an epic brooding soundtrack to the theme of nature itself and its desperate struggle to survive the human race’s hell bent determination to destroy it.”

The Nocturnal EP will be available for streaming on all major platforms. You can here it right below.

Tracklist of the EP:

• Nocturnal (KITTY LECTRO Remix)
• Nocturnal (KITTY LECTRO Meow Meow Money Mix)
• Nocturnal (Album Version)

The Membranes will be on tour in Europe with Mark Lanegan Band in November/December.

About The Membranes

Formed in 1978 in Blackpool, England, The Membranes played classic bass-driven northern post-punk and were part of the same world as bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Fall, Sisters Of Mercy, and Cabaret Voltaire, all inspired by the punk explosion of 1977 to launch their own idiosyncratic journeys. The band released a remarkable series of records throughout the ‘80s that combined their small town frustration with a love of heavy bass and distortion. This ultimately became a prime influence on such American noiseniks as Steve Albini, Swans and Sonic Youth.

The group reformed in 2010 at the request of My Bloody Valentine to play the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, and have since made two albums, inspired by newer bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mogwai, Ulver and Wardruna.

Membranes frontman/bassist John Robb is an acclaimed British musician/author/publisher and TV/radio commentator. He is the editor-in-chief of British music monthly Louder Than War and the author of the celebrated non-fiction work “Punk Rock: An Oral History”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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