(By Janos Janurik) Following recent misleading reports suggesting the end of Erasure, it has been officially clarified that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell continue to work together on new material. The duo is currently in the studio and already discussing possible touring scenarios for the upcoming release. While concrete details are still under wraps, one thing is certain: Erasure are far from finished. In the meantime, the spotlight shifts to Vince Clarke himself – with a comprehensive remix collection highlighting a different side of his work.

About ‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’

If there is one name synonymous with the history of synth-pop, it is Vince Clarke. As a founding member of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure, he has shaped generations of electronic music fans.

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, he now turns the focus to a facet of his career that often remains in the background: his work as a remixer.

This double CD collection brings together 26 remixes Clarke has created over the years for a wide range of artists – all personally selected for this official release. Rather than a simple retrospective, the compilation offers a deeper look into his production style beyond his own projects.

The album will be released on June 26, 2026 via Cherry Red Records.

Among the highlights:

• many of these remixes are available on physical format for the first time 
• the cover features Clarke’s cat Smudge, photographed by the artist himself 
• liner notes are provided by music writer Richard Evans 

The collection spans an impressive range of collaborators, including Depeche Mode, OMD, Johnny Marr, Saint Etienne, Soft Cell, and Happy Mondays.

A particularly notable inclusion is the previously unreleased “Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)” by Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello, a reinterpretation of the classic by Joy Division.

Of course, with a catalogue as extensive as Clarke’s, fans may find themselves wishing for additional selections – such as remixes for Nitzer Ebb or Polly Scattergood. Still, the final tracklist presents a compelling and well-balanced overview of his remix work.

‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’ tracklist:

Disc One

1. Happy Mondays – W.F.L. (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Chad Valley – Up & Down (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. The Saturdays – Issues (Vince Clarke Club Mix)
4. Blossoms – To Do List (After The Breakup) feat. Findlay (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Johnny Marr – Spirit Power And Soul (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – A Moment Longer feat. Nina Persson (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. YOVA – Rain (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Soft Cell – Bedsitter (Erasure Remix)
9. A Place To Bury Strangers – In Your Heart (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Andy Bell – Dance For Mercy (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. Dido – End of Night – (Vince Clarke Remix)

Disc Two

1. Depeche Mode – Behind The Wheel (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Fujiya & Miyagi – Fear Of Missing Out (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls (Vince Clarke Remix)
4. Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello – Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Almost (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – Shallow (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. Saint Etienne – Blue Kite (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development – A Shared Sense Of Purpose (Vince Clarke Remix)
9. Future Islands – Doves (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Reed & Caroline – Electrons (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Dubfire & Miss Kittin – Ride (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Alka – Faito (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. VCMG – Aftermaths (Vince Clarke Remix)

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, attention turns once again to a sometimes overlooked yet essential aspect of Vince Clarke’s work: his role as a remixer. The collection demonstrates just how timeless and adaptable his sound remains across different artists and eras – and why his influence on electronic pop music continues to resonate today.

“Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes” will be released on June 26, 2026 as a special 2-CD set via Cherry Red Records and is available for pre-order now at Lexer Music. Additional retailers, including Cherry Red, will follow in the coming days.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Doublespeak, the new collaboration between Vince Clarke, Blancmange’s Neil Arthur and Benge, will release its self-titled debut album on May 29, 2026 via London Records. The release is a collection of cover versions, reworked by the trio into an 11-track album. The album will be issued in multiple formats, including CD and vinyl editions.

Bands covered include Fad Gadget, Young Marble Giants, ABBA, The Sound, The Carpenters, David Essex, The Magnetic Fields, Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, John Hartford, Ed Dowie, and Laptop.

The album was 7 years in the making so Blancmange confirms: “Seven years in the making – but in reality, much longer, right the way back to ’70s radio, ’80s indie labels and the 21st Century analogue synth revolution.”

Vince Clarke from his side adds: “I knew so little about some of these songs that they were like demos to me. They felt like brilliant new songs that you want to get your hands on. I’ve had people do cover versions of my songs and honestly there’s no better tribute. So that’s what we wanted to do here.”

Doublespeak – ‘Doublespeak’ tracklist

The tracklist for “Doublespeak” features:

1. “Back To Nature” (originally by Fad Gadget)
2. “Brand – New – Life” (Young Marble Giants)
3. “The Visitors” (ABBA)
4. “I Can’t Escape Myself” (The Sound)
5. “Goodbye To Love” (The Carpenters)
6. “Rock On” (David Essex)
7. “Smoke And Mirrors” (The Magnetic Fields)
8. “Day Breaks, Night Heals” (Thomas Leer and Robert Rental)
9. “Gentle On My Mind” (John Hartford)
10. “Richard!” (Ed Dowie)
11. “End Credits” (Laptop)

For now you can listen to the original tracks below:

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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The ambient / electronic project by David Elfström Lilja, Árstraumur, has released the new instrumental album “Aurora”, the fourth from the project, today via I/O Music. The ten-part set includes guest appearance by Vince Clarke, Vide Lilja, and Bror Törnell.

“Aurora” is available as a digital/streaming release and in limited physical editions: CD, 180g black vinyl, and 180g transparent green vinyl. High-resolution downloads are offered on Bandcamp.

While Vince Clarke is featured on “Aurora III”, “Aurora V” features Vide Lilja and “Aurora VIII” Bror Törnell. All tracks were written, programmed, performed, mixed, and produced by David Elfström Lilja at Studio Svefnherbergi, Gävle, Sweden, except the three aforementioned collaboration tracks. The mastering was executed by Hoffe Stannow at Cosmos Mastering.

The collaboration with Vince Clarke

We asked David how this collaboration with Vince Clarke started: “I’ve been in touch with Vince before, a few years ago, because I wanted him to remix my project Moist, but he felt the songs were already complete as they were and that he couldn’t really add anything to them.

So, when I started writing songs for my next instrumental album, I remembered that Vince had released an instrumental record himself a couple of years earlier. I wrote to his management and asked them to forward a request, including some of the tracks I’d started working on and links to my previous albums.

A few days later, they got back to me and said that Vince wanted to take part. Then Vince emailed me a couple of days after that, and we started bouncing ideas back and forth – which eventually became the track he’s featured on.¨

About Árstraumur

This is the ambient/electronic project of Swedish producer and artist David Elfström Lilja (also known as Moist). The project is based in Gävle, Sweden (since 2023), and focuses on instrumental works spanning ambient atmospheres, cinematic textures, and downbeat electronics.

Early releases appeared on Bandcamp and through I/O Music, the independent label founded by Elfström Lilja in 2011. The catalog preceding “Aurora” includes “Off-World Colonies” (2023), “Airwaves” (2024), and “Deep Space Travellers” (2024), followed by singles such as “Cygnus X-1” (2024). “Aurora” is the fourth album and features collaborations with Vince Clarke, Vide Lilja, and Bror Törnell.

Elfström Lilja’s broader discography encompasses work as Moist, with remix and collaboration credits connected to artists such as Pet Shop Boys, Red Snapper, Tangerine Dream, Kebu, and The Beloved.

About Vide Lilja (vi/de) and Bror Törnell

Vide Lilja is a Swedish musician releasing as v!de / Vide Lilja. Next to being a featured collaborator on Árstraumur’s catalogue before “Aurora” (“Cassini” on Árstraumur’s “Deep Space Travellers”), I/O Music also announced him joining the roster.

Bror Törnell is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and producer, born August 1, 1956 (Trönö, Hälsingland); and is the brother of singer Monica Törnell. He played in the Monica Törnell Band (1970s) and as guitarist in the Söderhamn group Zenith (1975–1980); next to this he contributed guitar/songwriting to several of Monica Törnell’s albums. He Later worked as producer for acts including Authorize, Overload, Divine Sin and goth rock band Malaise. He is also involved with the Studiefrämjandet in Söderhamn, the local office of Sweden’s nationwide adult-education association.

About I/O Music

I/O Music is an independent Swedish record label founded in 2011 by producer and designer David Elfström Lilja in Söderhamn. The label’s catalog primarily spans electronic styles – including electronic pop, ambient, techno and experimental music – and has also released non-electronic and pop material. I/O Music now operates from Gävle and runs a Bandcamp label page under I/O Music + SleepyTown.

SleepyTown was launched in 2023, and is a rock-oriented sub-label created as an extension to I/O Music. SleepyTown is co-managed with Swedish drummer/producer Marcus Losbjer (Wolverine/Di Leva), who is the co-founder/label manager.

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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Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure) has collaborated with former Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander on his debut solo album, “Polari”. Clarke co-wrote and co-produced the track “Make Me a Man“, adding his signature synth-pop style into the song. More specifically, Clarke programmed drums, and contributed some guitar to it. The album is an exploration of queer identity and culture.

“Polari” is out now and is available to stream on all digital music platforms.

Below is the track Vince Clarke worked on. You will surely recognise an Andy Bell-esque vibe to the vocals making it a perfect match. All in all, this sounds like an Erasure track from the mid eighties.

About Olly Alexander

Olly Alexander , born Oliver Alexander Thornton on July 15, 1990, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, first rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of Years & Years. The band released various albums such as “Communion” (2015) and “Palo Santo” (2018). In 2021, Years & Years basically became his solo venture, culminating in the release of “Night Call” in 2022.

Apart from music Alexander also built an acting career, notably portraying Ritchie Tozer in the 2021 Channel 4 and HBO Max drama “It’s a Sin” which depicts the experiences of young gay men during the 1980s and early 1990s HIV/AIDS crisis.

In 2024, Alexander represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest with the single “Dizzy” launched on March 1, 2024. He performed it during the first semi-final on May 7, 2024, and placed 18th in the grand final.

His solo debut, under his own name, came with the album “Polari”, released on February 7, 2025. Produced by Danny L. Harle (and Vince Clarke for the track “Make Me a Man”) explores queer identity and culture by referencing the mid-20th-century coded language used by gay men in Britain.

Alexander actively promotes LGBTQ+ rights and mental health awareness. He has openly addressed his experiences with depression, self-harm, and eating disorders.

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!

side-line.com

The British synthpop duo, Erasure, consisting of vocalist Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, have announced the vinyl reissues of three albums: “Tomorrow’s World” (2011), “Snow Globe” (2013), and “The Violet Flame” (2014). These limited edition vinyl reissues, set for release on December 13, will be available via Mute Records.

Tomorrow’s World (2011) – Limited Edition Clear Vinyl

“Tomorrow’s World” marks Erasure’s return after a four-year hiatus. Released in 2011, the album showcased a duo deeply rooted in the synthpop scene yet embracing a more modern sound. Produced by Frankmusik (who has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga and Pet Shop Boys), the album was recorded across multiple locations, including Maine, London, and Los Angeles. It includes the singles “When I Start To (Break It All Down)”, “Be With You”, “A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot”, and “Fill Us With Fire”.

The album was well received. It followed a period where Andy Bell released his solo album “Don’t Stop”, and Vince Clarke briefly reunited with Alison Moyet for a Yazoo tour.

Snow Globe (2013) – Limited Edition Pink Vinyl

“Snow Globe” took Erasure in a stripped-back, often melancholic take on the festive genre. Departing from the more traditional, glitzy sounds of Christmas music, the album features eerie, minimalist arrangements.

Produced by Erasure, alongside Gareth Jones and Richard X, the album includes a modern rendition of the traditional Latin carol “Gaudete” and new versions of classics like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night”. The album’s lead single was “Make It Wonderful”.

The Violet Flame (2014) – Limited Edition White Vinyl

“The Violet Flame” came out in 2014, following the festive experiment of “Snow Globe”, and saw Erasure return to their electronic roots. The album was produced by Richard X (known for his work with Goldfrapp, SOPHIE, and Róisin Murphy).

Unlike their previous work, where songs traditionally began on guitar or piano, the tracks on “The Violet Flame” emerged directly from electronic dance grooves. This change in process resulted in standout singles such as “Elevation”, “Reason”, and the Halloween-themed “Dead of Night”.

With over 25 million albums sold worldwide and an impressive 18 studio albums under their belt, Erasure has cemented their place as one of the UK’s most successful synth-pop duos. Formed in 1985, they have consistently evolved while maintaining their signature synthpop sound. Their most recent releases include “The Neon” (2020) and its experimental follow-up “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” (2022), which reimagined the songs from “The Neon” with new arrangements and vocals.

The vinyl reissues will be available on December 13, 2024, via Mute Records, and pre-orders are currently open.

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!

side-line.com

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Sub Culture press release) “Hard To Love You”, the fourth single from the upcoming Piston Damp album, is out today on streaming platforms. The sophomore album is due later this autumn.

“Hard To Love You” takes us back to the early 80’s with analogue synths, modular f/x and beautiful vocal harmonies, and Piston Damp’s love for Vince Clarke’s early songwriting really comes to fruition here. 

With their own unmistakable touch and sound mixed in, this makes for a nostalgic summer outing fit for a day on the beach or late night radio listening.

Piston Damp have played an impressive amount of gigs in Germany, Sweden and Norway in the past 3 years, and their live escapade will continue in August with their first ever gig in Oslo on the 31^st at Revolver, sharing the stage with Ray Noir. More info and tickets here.

“Hard To Love You” is written by Jonas Groth who’s also providing the vocals, and the synthesizers and modulars are by Truls Sønsterud. On this single, Stephan Groth, the brother of Jonas and known from Apoptygma Berzerk, has stepped in as co-producer. The single was mixed by Magne Johansen, and mastered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen. In addition to the instrumental and extended versions of “Hard To Love You”, you’ll get a live version of “Something In Me” included on the single.

Check out their bio and photos at www.pistondamp.com while listening to the tracks here:

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(Interview by Janos Janurik) Ever since I got into online music journalism, I’ve always been interested in the background characters around my favourite musicians’ releases that add something important to the product we, the fans end up with.

With this in mind, over the years I have interviewed personalities such as Anton Corbijn (photographer of Depeche Mode and many other music greats), Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders (producers and mixmasters of Depeche Mode and Erasure amongst others).

About eight years ago I had the honour of helping to promote Vince Clarke’s then newly founded mini-record label (VeryRecords) and his releases. In addition to the artists whose albums have been released there in recent years, I also got in contact with Mat Smith, who, like me, is a freelancer – readers of Electronic Sound and Clash know him well – and works as a publicist for VeryRecords as well as being commissioned by Erasure and Mute for a number of press pieces. He also wrote the sleevenotes in the booklet of the new “Cowboy” Deluxe-Edition.

In addition to his journalistic work, he also has his own project “Mortality Tables”, which has just released a new mini-album on cassette and as a digital download. Last November, at the premiere of Vince Clarke’s solo album in London, I had the pleasure of meeting Mat in person and we had a lively chat about our shared passion for music. Knowing how important this project is to him, I approached him and asked him a few questions about it. 

But then life, or rather death, intervened. I didn’t mean this as a cheap shot, but it was indeed a sad event that forced me to make changes to the interview I had with my friend and colleague almost three weeks ago. Now that the aforementioned label is going on holiday, and before I do the same, I would like to bring this exciting musical venture (“The Engineer”) to your attention – and this interview with the man behind it.

SL: Tell us briefly about how you became interested in music. Have you had any musical training, have you learnt to play any instruments? Do you remember the first record you bought?

I grew up in a house where music seemed to always be playing, either on the radio or on my parent’s stereo. My mother listened to a lot of ABBA. Nothing about that was exceptional, particularly. When I used to go to friends’ houses, they always seemed to have the TV switched on, which felt strange to me. My family chose music, and I’ve surrounded myself with it ever since. 

I tried to play the recorder, which was the instrument that most of us learned as kids. My parents gave me a blue one for Christmas one year. I couldn’t play a single note. I briefly learned the basics of notation at school but very quickly forgot all of it. In early high school music classes I was more interested in recording real-life sounds into the Casio keyboard and using those to make compositions. Not long after that, I started making sample-based electronic music on my Amiga 500.

The first album I owned was Nik Kershaw’s ‘Human Racing’. I was given for my birthday the year it was released, along with a Sanyo portable cassette player. I played that album constantly. I wore out the cassette player after two weeks but I still have the ‘Human Racing’ tape and it still sounds incredible to me. 

SL: When did you discover electronic music? And who was the first electronic artist who introduced you to the world of electronic music?

My father is responsible for switching me on to electronic music. There were three pivotal events, and they all relate to times I was with my father.

The first was one evening when my mother was at her restaurant job, and my father was looking after me. I was playing with Lego in the lounge and Gary Numan was performing ‘Cars’ on TV. That performance completely captivated me.

The next was driving around in my father’s car while he did his second job as a debt collector. A friend at work had recorded two tracks from OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album onto a cassette for him. The songs were ‘Joan Of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, and we’d listen to them over and over.

The third was Soft Cell’s ‘Non-Stop Erotic Videotape’, which he brought home from work one day. That was pretty mind-blowing for a five-year old, and I can only imagine he didn’t realise what it was. It was definitely not suitable for a kid of my age, but, looking back, I don’t remember the imagery – I only recall the music. 

So I owe my father a huge debt for how he shaped my music tastes at a very early age. He was also the one who brought home a cassette copy of ‘The Innocents’ by Erasure and gave it to me. He had no idea quite what he started that day. 

SL: When did you start writing journalistic texts for Mute Records and its artists? What was your first article for Mute and about which artist, which release?

I began a blog called Documentary Evidence in 2003, which was focused on my personal Mute Records collection. I’d just write about the releases from a mostly non-musical perspective, explaining how they made me feel. I still write reviews like that today for Electronic Sound. I also got really interested in telling the stories of specific releases or artists, and that led me to interview people who released music through Mute, or were somehow connected to the label. I have a natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, and that seems to mean people like talking to me and opening up. 

From there I started writing for Clash, and then Electronic Sound and some other places. In 2017 I got asked to chair a panel discussion with Anton Corbijn, Daniel Miller, Paul A. Taylor and Steve Claydon (Add N To (X)) at Rough Trade East in London, about the visual identity of Mute. The first written Mute commission I got was to write a press biography for Chris Carter’s ‘Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1’. I couldn’t believe they asked me to do that, and I couldn’t believe I was being paid to write for the label I loved so much. The team at Mute liked what I did and I’ve been given a few more things to do since then, as well as with the team at BMG who look after the Erasure reissue programme, and Erasure themselves. 

SL: Did Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords label and the associated promotion give you any impetus for your own project, which you called “Mortality Tables”?

Indirectly, yes, but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

My task with VeryRecords was to assemble the press releases. It was the first time I’d worked behind the scenes of a release, where I’d often get involved before the album was even mastered, or before the artwork had even been considered. So I’d be talking to the artists – Reed & Caroline, Alka and Brook – at a very early stage, generally when Vince felt that the album was finished enough for me to listen and for me to start engaging the artists.

It took a while for me to realise this, but the process of working with the artists to write a press release became a collaboration – between all of us, and between my words and their music. I wasn’t just a writer but part of the collective effort to put this music out into the world. I did the same with Nick Hook’s Calm + Collect label, working on releases by Gareth Jones, Spiritual Friendship and others.

In 2019, when I began forming Mortality Tables, I envisaged it as a creative community of collaborators. You can definitely draw a line between that and the ideas that began to form as I worked with VeryRecords and its artists. I also took a lot of inspiration from Vince, who didn’t feel that he needed to only focus on the music that people would expect him to release. That sense of freedom, which Daniel Miller also brought to Mute, directly fed into what Mortality Tables has become. I wanted something where I could work with people making sound art as well as people making images. It had to have artistic breadth. 

I wanted Mortality Tables to be like a gallery, with a portfolio of artists in vastly different disciplines. That’s why Neil Coe deigned the first sleeve image to look like the description of an artwork on the wall of a gallery.

SL: The name of the project refers to the work of actuaries who measure the statistical probability of life insurance payouts. You do something like this in your everyday working life, don’t you?

That’s right. I work with insurance companies all around the world, and have done for over twenty years. I find lots of parallels between the worlds of insurance and electronic music, and the kinds of people I engage with in both of my jobs.

The story goes that I was meeting a friend in a café in Bloomsbury in London one morning. He runs a record label, which is another big inspiration for Mortality Tables. He wishes to remain anonymous, but he is actively involved, in the sense that he must approve anything we decide to do. I call him the Creative Consultant.

So I was meeting him and he had an LP of one of his releases to give me. He asked me if I had a bag to put it in, and I reached into rucksack and retrieved a tote bag. It was from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and had been given to me by an actuary a few years before. The Creative Consultant saw the bag with its logo and Latin inscription (‘e peritia ratio’ – ‘reason from experience’) and asked what it meant. I replied, “It’s all mortality tables and shit like that.” The name stuck.

We created our first Mortality Tables Product that morning. It’s called FORKTALK and is a conversation between two friends. We do not publish the details of our conversations. Its entry in the Mortality Tables Catalogue is MTP0.

SL: Dave Clarkson, who is mostly active in electronic and experimental music and Wonderful Beasts, a sound art/electronic music duo consisting of the anonymous Xqui and Carl Knott (boycalledcrow, Spacelab) were your first artists, right? How did you get in touch with them?

The release that moved Mortality Tables from something conceptual to something ‘real’ was ‘Two Meditations For Freya’ by Goodparley (whose name has now changed to Please Close Your Eyes). That was in 2022. It signalled what I wanted Mortality Tables to be: I would come up with ideas and hand them to someone to ‘respond’ to.

That concept has stayed consistent through the first two years of Mortality Tables. I’ll come up with an idea and pick someone to get involved. At the last count, there are at least fifty people who are collaborators. And it isn’t just sound projects – Mortality Tables encompasses sound, art, and words. And insurance. 

However, all rules in creativity are there to be broken, and I broke my own rules in 2023 with the release of Dave Clarkson’s ‘Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Music From Vintage Toys)’. I had nothing to do with the concept of that album, so I guess that’s a bit like Mortality Tables acting like a traditional record label, which is a description I never want to use. The same is true of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ and boycalledcrow’s ‘Kullu’. However, all these releases only existed because of an earlier collaboration, and that’s how I got myself comfortable with releasing these projects. You’ll see a few more of those types of projects from Mortality Tables over the next few years. 

In answer to your question about how I find artist, it’s actually really straightforward. Anyone involved with Mortality Tables is someone whose music I’ve written about. As for how I choose an artist for a particular project, that’s mostly a case of matching a collaborator to an idea that feels aligned to what they would usually do. However, some of the most enjoyable projects are where the artist is working a long way outside of what they might normally do.

SL: After artists like Andrew Spackman, Rupert Lally, Simon Fisher Turner and Veryan, two years ago you released a strange and experimental piece called “On Mortality, Immortality & Charles Ives”. The piece is a spoken word piece in which you read out the Mortality Tables’ manifesto: “In life, our one true certainty is death.” This narration, recorded by Gareth Jones, was then sent to Vince Clarke who recorded a musical response to the text, which forms the soundtrack to the release. How did you come up with this, somewhat absurd, idea?

I had bought a copy of a book by Alex Danchev called ‘100 Artists’ Manifestos – From The Futurists To The Stuckists’ at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2021. I read each of the manifestos from groups like the Surrealists, Dadaists and Situationists as if they were short stories, and it became a really profound experience. On the back of ‘Two Meditations For Freya’, people had started to ask me what Mortality Tables was all about, so it seemed completely natural (and not absurd at all) to write a manifesto.

Mostly it was designed to help me understand why I was doing this, and then I decided to explain it to everyone else. That’s when I asked Gareth to record my narration. At the same time I approached Vince and an anonymous sound artist called venoztks to create sound pieces to accompany it.

The listener can judge whether it successfully explains what this is all about, or not. It does explain why the composer and actuary Charles Ives is so critical to the evolution of Mortality Tables. In fact, the second Mortality Tables Product to be made available was a postcard containing an illustration of Ives in front of a mortality table from 1874, the year of Ives’s birth. That piece was a collaboration with Savage Pencil who had illustrated a lot of the Blast First sleeves.

SL: Released on June 16th, the 40-copy limited edition cassette “The Engineer” is a charity project for Alzheimer’s disease featuring Vince Clarke, Penelope Trappes, Chris Illingworth, Barney Ashton-Bullock, Lara Jones, Simon Fisher Turner, Hattie Cooke, Gareth Jones, Veryan and others. The title character is your father, isn’t he? Is that why you chose Father’s Day as the release date? Tell us a bit about this project!

The title character, the engineer, is based on my father. This project dates back ten years, probably longer, a long time before Mortality Tables was an idea.

I wrote a short story that tried to deal with my feelings about my father as he approached retirement. He lived for work, had no hobbies or friends, and I envisaged him struggling to cope with the concept of stopping work. I was angry when I wrote it, but I was also scared for him. It’s fiction, but it’s rooted in his reality. His actual retirement was very different to what happens in the story. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018, and that’s why we’ll donate all profits from ‘The Engineer’ to the Alzheimer’s Society. Sadly he passed away shortly after ‘The Engineer’ was released. 

When I published the story on my blog, an electronic musician called Laica (Dave Fleet) offered to create some music inspired by the story. He composed a beautiful piece but the project never got completed. A few years later, I came up with a different idea, which involved someone narrating the story with a piece of music behind it. That version also never got off the ground at all, but I liked the idea of asking someone to narrate the story. That’s when I asked Barney Ashton-Bullock if he would do it. He has a brilliant speaking voice, and it was perfect for this story.

It was Gareth Jones who suggested the idea of having different artists respond to different sections of narration. He said it was a bit like the Surrealist game ‘Exquisite Corpse’. I think of Gareth as my spiritual guru. He has a way of unlocking ideas, and freeing you from obstacles that are only there because you’ve put them there. ‘The Engineer’ wouldn’t exist in this form if it wasn’t for Gareth. 

From there, it was a case of picking the collaborators and asking them to respond to a specific 30-second section of narration. No one heard the full story, and no one asked to hear the whole thing. The order the artists agreed to say yes determined which section they got. The only rule I gave them was that their sound response needed to last exactly thirty seconds. 

There are two editions of ‘The Engineer’. One is a digital file that combines the narration and sound responses. The other is a cassette that splits the narration and responses apart. That means the only place you can hear Vince Clarke’s sound response without Barney’s narration is on the cassette, which has now sold out. 

SL: Barney Ashton-Bullock (the creator of Andy Bell’s “Torsten” projects), Vince Clarke, as well as Reed Hays, Alka and Gareth Jones will be familiar to most of our readers, but who are the other contributors? 

Again, everyone involved is someone I’ve written about. When I came up with my collaborator list for this, it was important to me to achieve some sort of diversity. So a lot of the artists here are electronic, but you have artists covering everything from pop to sound art. That was deliberate.

I also wanted diversity of textures. That’s why I included Charlotte Keeffe, Chris Illingworth from GoGo Penguin and Luce Mawdsley. When you put all 29 sound responses together as a single piece, it sounds like a right fucking mess. As the responses were coming in over a 30-month period, I realised that the sprawling, messy quality was a lot like my father’s Alzheimer’s – ideas form, are quickly forgotten before they develop, and are then replaced by something else. That wasn’t planned, at all, but now I can see it was a subconscious idea that must have been there from the moment that Gareth suggested involving lots of artists. 

SL: What plans and ideas are currently circulating in your head? Will it be something journalistic or another Mortality Tables release?

I’m always writing, and I’ve got a few big things underway right now, including something for a label I’ve done a few pieces for before.

In terms of Mortality Tables, now that ‘The Engineer’ has been released, all activities will he paused until later in the summer. We’ve released a huge number of Products in just over two years and I need a break. We’ll return later in the summer with Season 03 of LIFEFILES, which is an ongoing project where artists respond to my really basic field recordings.

We’ll also release a single from Please Close Your Eyes, an album from Andrew Spackman and the full version of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ collaboration. I’ve been working on one of several projects inspired by Charles Ives, ‘Central Park: A Picture-In-Sounds’, which will be issued as a ‘score’ in October, along with some additional performances of the piece. We’ll begin work on another large-scale collaboration called ‘The Impermanence Project’.

Other things will happen. Other things will not.

More information on Mortality Tables releases.

Use code janos for a 10% discount off anything in the Mortality Tables Catalogue. 

I would like to end this article with a personal message from Mat Smith, who asks the readers and the music listeners to support, if they can, the Alzheimer’s Society, which has received the proceeds of the tape release mentioned in the interview. If you feel able to, please donate to alzheimers.org.uk directly.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Vince Clarke is set to perform ‘Songs of Silence’ live at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NYC, on Saturday, May 4th, 2024. Following the success of the November concert in London, Clarke has decided to bring the show to New York City. Accompanied by Reed Hays, the event promises an intimate evening with doors opening at 6 pm and concluding by 9 pm. The duo plans to present “Songs of Silence” in full, along with additional tracks from the same project.

Tickets for this exclusive performance will be available starting this Sunday, March 24th, at noon (NYC time). Unlike the larger London event, the Brooklyn show offers a more personal experience in a stunning venue, anticipated to be a truly special occasion.

Priced at $35 each, plus a service and booking fee of $4.19, tickets are for general admission standing only. Interested parties can secure up to four tickets per transaction exclusively through the designated Eventbrite page. Purchases cannot be made at the venue or through other channels. Additional details regarding wheelchair access, venue specifics, and the evening’s schedule are available on the ticketing page.

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 Lina Gabrielli) The Swedish electropop trio Me The Tiger are to launch a second single, “I want it back”, taken from the upcoming album “Envy” expected to be released in Spring 2024. Earlier they released “Post Denial War”. The new single is also out via Progress Productions.

Below is already the cover artwork.

Me The Tiger (Gabriella Åström, Jonas Martinsson, and Tobias Andersson) was formed in Falun in the Spring of 2012 and has since released three full-length albums, a series of singles, and performed at festivals like M’era Luna (Germany), W-fest (Belgium), Eine Nacht im Bergwerk (Switzerland), Infest (England), E-Only (Germany), electriXmas (Sweden), and shared stages with Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo), Front 242, Kite, and Emmon.

In 2024, they will tour in Europe, including a performance at Solitary Experiments’ 30th-anniversary festival in Berlin and their festival debut in Poland.

The message the band wants to spread via their material is the following: “In a time where individualism thrives, the trio aims to highlight values of solidarity and contribute to a fairer and warmer society. We live together and have a collective responsibility to care for one another, regardless of class, ethnicity, or gender.”

Here’s their previous single “Post Denial War”.

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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(By our UK correspondent Simon Helm of Cold War Nightlife) A few days ago we posted a review of the first solo concert of Vince Clarke at the LSESU in London, with Sunroof (comprising Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones), and today we present you a review of the additional Q&A session featuring Daniel Miller which took place at Rough Trade East on Sunday, November 19th.

Vince Clarke needs no introduction, so Daniel Miller didn’t give him one. The mastermind behind Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly, and Erasure, Clarke was in London to perform his solo album, Songs of Silence. A Q&A session at Rough Trade East allowed the Mute label boss to put some questions to Clarke and talk about their shared history.

Update: Mute in the meantime posted a video of the Q&A.

When Vince Clarke met Daniel Miller

The first time Clarke and Miller met was a bit of a disaster. Dressed up in futurist clothes, Clarke had travelled from Basildon with Dave Gahan to pitch Depeche Mode’s demo tape to London-based labels. When they tried Rough Trade, the counter staff pointed them at Miller, who was in the back preparing the artwork for a Fad Gadget record. When the Mute man emerged, he took one look at the Mode boys and kept walking. 

Miller chuckles at the lost opportunity, which he recovered from when Depeche Mode supported Fad Gadget at the Bridgehouse in Canning Town. He notes a controversy that has arisen because Stevo, the notorious Soft Cell manager and Some Bizarre label boss, has claimed that he “let” Miller “have” Depeche Mode for Mute. Rubbish. Depeche Mode did what they wanted – and, as Clarke confirms, that was to work with the genius behind The Normal, Silicon Teens, and the sound of Fad Gadget.

The lockdown stopped Erasure from working together

On to the new album. Clarke explains that lockdown stopped Erasure from working together. Inspired by repeated viewings of Bladerunner 2049, he decided to make the soundtrack for a sequel in his basement studio using modular kit. Drones provided the fluidity, while additional elements were layered on top. “It was never intended as a record,” Clarke said. “It  was really just for me to learn to use the synthesizer.”

When Miller asked Clarke what he was up to, some tracks were passed across, and Miller suggested they become an album. “I was in total shock, because it wasn’t what I intended,” Clarke told the audience.

The only track with lyrics used a recording of a traditional miner’s union song, which Clarke had struggled to set to music previously. Miller explained that it proved impossible to track down the rights holder for the vocals – drawing a laugh when he explained that Mute would “Take care of them.”

New Erasure album in the making

Clarke revealed that there is a new Erasure album planned for release next year, but he has not played the music to Andy Bell, yet. “We never write remotely. It just doesn’t work for us. We have to be in the same room, at the same time, to make a complete song.”

Miller let on that there is more coming from the Erasure camp. “Andy [Bell] is also working on a solo album at the moment.” No word whether it will also feature Eurorack modules or found sound, but it will undoubtedly come with its own stories.

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!

side-line.com

(Interview by János Janurik) Vince Clarke just released his first solo album “Songs Of Silence” in late autumn 2023. The fact that he has now recorded his first solo album after more than forty years in the pop business was long overdue. Our editor Janos Janurik contacted Vince Clarke and his partner in crime, Reed Hays, regarding this solo debut that opens up new listening perspectives into Vince Clarke’s previously unknown parallel universe, and a special concert in London.

Although the ingenious composer and sound wizard had several side projects alongside his main band Erasure – just think of the countless remixes, the collaborations with Martyn Ware, Paul Hartnoll and Martin Gore, and his label boss activities at Very Records, or the almost unknown album of instrumental compositions called “Deeptronica” – this is still the first time that he has released an LP under his own name. And on the parent label Mute Records. A feast for fans of electronic music!

Even the first appetiser was a shock for some fans: Vince ventured to the dark side, his solo track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” sounding darker and sadder than ever before. The accompanying music video, shot in black and white, only reinforced the gloomy mood of the first pre-release track. This was anything but the dynamic electro-pop that Vince Clarke is known for.

The second pre-release single “White Rabbit” is already more similar to the typical musical style of the Erasure mastermind. Intelligent pop at its best, where hypnotising, shimmering electronic beats keep up the tempo with electric guitar sounds and thundering drums at the end. The visual backdrop this time is an animated film, with educational content about how we are “modern humans”. After the break since “The Neon” sound cosmos, fans of Vince Clarke’s music are eagerly awaiting their musical hero’s first solo LP.

„The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.”

SL. When I heard and saw the track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” for the first time, I was deeply touched by the experience. Although you mentioned to me in an earlier interview (around the time of the release of “2Square”) that you “still like to write “nobody understands me” songs”, you’ve waited so long to show this side of yourself. If there’s no pressure from the label, these songs might stay in the drawer. Is that really true? Did Daniel Miller persuade you to release these compositions as your first solo album on Mute?

Vince: The tracks I recorded during lockdown were never meant as an album. I was spending time in the studio just experimenting with sound and mood. I sent some of these ‘experiments’ to Daniel Miller, owner of Mute records and he suggested that perhaps this collection of soundscapes could be released as an album. Up to that point I was purely making the music for myself.

SL. As for the album title (“Songs Of Silence”), it wasn’t too hard to work out that it was some kind of homage to the legendary film score by Simon & Garfunkel. They were a big inspiration for you to compose music yourself, weren’t they? And what inspirations did you take this time? Or did everything follow your inner voice?

Vince: Yes, the title is a tiny homage to “The Sounds of Silence” and I’m a huge fan of Paul Simon. At the same time “Songs Of Silence” describe exactly what the album is about.

SL. The music of Vince Clarke lives without bombastic sound or glittery synth pop effects too, that was my first thought after listening to this album. What equipment did you use in your home studio this time?

Vince: For all the tracks I just used my Eurorack Modules. It was an opportunity to learn about the technology and really focus on the precise sounds I needed without being distracted by all the other sound sources in my studio.

SL. The opening track (“Cathedral”) already takes the listener out of the real world and frees them from the matrix. The whole thing has something religious and spiritual about it, in which the wholeness of the world is connected with one’s own existence. Such a process is necessary for mental health and for dealing with negative feelings. Was it the same for you?

Vince: I’m not religious but the word Cathedral suggested to me something huge and wondrous. I found the process of recording all these tracks to be cathartic and helpful to cope with the stresses I was experiencing at the time.

SL. One of my favourites is the track “Red Planet”. Relaxing ambient music with ethereal voices. I think a lot of fans – especially Depeche Mode fans – will say it’s their favourite track. Do you have your own favourite track from the album?

Vince: “Cathedral” is my favourite track and I’m also very fond of “Passage” which is all about a difficult/impossible journey.

SL. Not only “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”, but also “Scarper” has an acoustic touch – flamenco-like guitar. Once again a highlight of the album for me. Did you use samples here or did someone play the guitar live?

Vince: Reed Hays played cello on “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” and the guitar parts were played by my friend Steve Walsh.

SL. “Blackleg” is inspired by the traditional folk song “Blackleg Miner”. Your label mate, Frank Tovey, who died too soon, dedicated an entire album to workers’ songs in 1989 (“Tyranny And The Hired Hand”). Music and resistance was the main theme of this album. And what about you? What did you find inspiring about this folk song?

Vince: The song has a real raw edge to it. The lyrics are quite violent and paint a stark picture of the misery of the mining community during and after the Industrial Revolution. It was interesting to mix a very synthetic soundscape with something so organic.

SL. “Last Transmission” could also be related to the Erasure song “Turns The Love To Anger”, especially with the instrumental intro of its live version. It’s like a radio signal into space, with the hope that it will find a recipient with empathy. Do you still believe in the good in these difficult times?

Vince: No. I find it difficult to feel optimistic.

SL. You have always been known to be rather reluctant to appear in video clips. But for the first promo video, you had to stand alone in front of the camera. Where and how did the filming of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” take place?

Vince: I wanted the video to convey a certain gravitas that reflected the sadness of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”. It was shot in Brooklyn New York in a day.

SL. An animated video was made for “White Rabbit” – another favourite track of mine. You recently uploaded funny cartoons (“Günter Finn” and “Bacon And Eggs”) to the internet yourself. How did you find the cartoonist Daniele Arcuri for the second clip?

Vince: I saw his show reel on Fiverr and was instantly attracted to his irreverent and bonkers style of animation.

SL. At the special album release event in London the support band was the duo of Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller (called Sunroof), who play electro-improvisation music. Both of them have played a big role in your career. Was it natural for you to invite them to support you?

Vince: I was delighted that they agreed to do the show with us. I think the combination made for a really interesting evening.

SL. A month has passed since that concert in London. Your first solo album has received very good reviews, it’s also at the top of the album charts. Looking back on the whole process, what are your feelings now? Did you expect such positive feedback?

Vince: To be honest, I didn’t expect any feedback. The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.

Reed Hays, the synthesiser specialist and master of the Buchla synthesiser, and long-time friend of Vince Clarke, also joins the conversation.

SL. Reed, you and Caroline were the first to sign a label contract with Vince’s Very Records. So far you’ve released two albums on his label and you then supported Erasure on their 2018 tour. Now you’ve played cello as a guest musician for Vince’s solo album. How did this invitation come about?

Reed: During the Reed & Caroline years Vince had me put together a couple instrumental tracks to promote Veryrecords on Soundcloud. One was called “Buchla and Cello” and the other was called “Cello and No Buchla”, so he was already familiar with my playing. While working on “Songs of Silence” he asked in his usual polite English manner, “Would you mind terribly if I sent you something, and maybe consider if it needs some sort of cello on it?” I purposely overplayed the part, thinking he would edit most of it out, but to my surprise he kept the whole thing!

SL. Were you there – as an expert advisor – for the entire creative period, or did you only hear the final result?

Reed: He played me some of the tracks while he was working on them, but I’m afraid I had no “expert advice” to give, because they already sounded amazing. I remember thinking only Vince Clarke could call something a “drone piece” but you’d still walk away from it with a catchy part in your head!

SL. Do you have your own favourite tracks from Vince’s solo album? If so, what are they and why?

Reed: Vince’s friend Steve does some great acoustic guitar work on “Scarper”. There’s a little blippy part on “Cathedral” that sounds Buchla-inspired, so of course it makes me smile every time I hear it. I love the sequencer in “White Rabbit” and of course his treatment of the “Blackleg Miner” song is wonderfully haunting.         

SL. On release day you shared the stage with Vince in London. What was your role at that concert?

Reed: In a very un-Vince reversal, nothing was rigidly synchronized. We were playing drones and triggering elements from the album by hand. The timing was totally based on the feel of the evening and the impressions of the visuals. And, of course, I had my cello with me. J

SL. For a while you had a joint radio show on a New York alternative radio station called “The Synthesizer Show”, which was very popular among fans of synthesiser music. Do you miss these radio shows? Do you talk to each other privately about what’s new in the genre?

Reed: It’s funny to think that for close to a decade “The Synthesizer Show” was an important anchor for both of us. It was a great way to break up the grinding tour schedule with Erasure, and during Covid it was the only activity either one of us had apart from family lockdown life. I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of “The Synthesizer Show” yet, but right now we have a couple ambient concerts to deal with!

SL. Do you currently have something in progress? Will there be another Reed & Caroline album?

Reed: I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Buchla 100, the earliest Buchla instrument. It’s also the rawest and most visceral of Mr. Buchla’s creations. I like to think of Reed & Caroline as a magical pre-Covid time capsule, but in a couple years her girls and my son will be out of high school, so never say never!

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

In 1981 Depeche Mode were: Vince Clarke, Andrew Fletcher, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan. When the Speak & Spell tour ended on Monday November 16 1981 at the London Lyceum, Depeche Mode knew they would end up with 3 soon after. In November 1981, Vince Clarke publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode. Soon afterwards, Clarke joined up with blues singer Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (or Yaz in the United States).

Vince Clarke performed for the final time with Depeche Mode on Thursday 3 December for a television show, Off The Record, in Chichester. For those who wandered what that show looked like, you can now check it out below. Poet John Cooper Clarke was the support act.

The setlist:

• 00:00 Off The Record Intro
• 00:20 Photographic (Some Bizarre Version)
• 03:38 New Life
• 06:36 Puppets
• 10:10 I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
• 12:19 Tora! Tora! Tora!
• 15:20 Just Can’t Get Enough
• 19:04 Boys Say Go!
• 21:48 What’s Your Name?

Why did Vince Clarke leave Depeche Mode?

It was with their third single “Just Can’t Get Enough that Depeche Mode struck gold. It was also the only Depeche Mode video to feature Vince Clarke. As a result they were soon playing on Top of the Pops. At this point Vince had decided to part ways with Depeche Mode as he felt that they were in favor of taking a different musical direction than the one he wanted to pursue citing arguments regarding songwriting, and admitting his own dogmatism where it comes to creating music. He also added: “There was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions”

Clarke also said he was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was “bullshit to be quite honest”. Gahan went on to say he “suddenly lost interest in it and he started getting letters from fans asking what kind of socks he wore.”

In a later interview with Vice, Clarke would say that he left Depeche Mode because the band was young and weren’t getting along adding “nothing more, nothing less, no regrets”.

Initial talk of Clarke’s continuing to write material for Depeche Mode ultimately amounted to nothing. According to third-party sources, Clarke offered the remaining members of Depeche Mode the track “Only You”, but they declined. Clarke, however, denied in an interview that such an offer ever took place saying, “I don’t know where that came from. That’s not true.”

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!

side-line.com

(By our UK correspondent Simon Helm of Cold War Nightlife) This is a review of yesterday’s event at the London School of Economics where Vince Clarke did a debut solo show supported by Sunroof (comprising Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones).

Vince Clarke admits that he is a little nervous. The confession comes as he adjusts his set-up between songs. Normally, Andy Bell would step into these gaps, but this is not an Erasure show. It is a performance of “Songs of Silence”, Clarke’s album of songs based on drones. There is no need for concern: the sold-out crowd in a basement venue at the LSE is a friendly one (look – there is Neil Arthur from Blancmange!); and the spaces between tracks are exactly what the album’s title promises.

The event is billed as Vince Clarke’s first ever solo performance – but, of course, it is not. Clarke is a serial collaborator, who has spent his career working with other talents. Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly, Erasure, The Illustrious Company, VCMG – even when the prime mover, Clarke has sought out others to share the experience and the credits. Tonight, the limelight is shared with his friend, Reed Hays, and a cameo from the indomitable Sarah-Jane Dale, while Richard Evans from the Erasure Information Service tweaks the lighting. Clarke is more exposed than usual, but he is not alone.

The title of the new album is a reminder that Clarke is a life-long Simon & Garfunkel fan. It might also be a reference to the recent losses of his friends, Robert Marlowe and Andy Fletcher. The cover photo shows Clarke in stark relief, and the cruelty of time is written into the songs. Performed live, they lose none of their emotive content, and Hays’ cello underlines the sadness of “The Lamentations of Jermiah.” Even “Blackleg,” a version of the traditional miners’ song made popular in a more combative form by Steeleye Span and the PCA Band, is ominous and melancholy. Grainy footage of miners walking from a pit invokes something lost – like Test Dept without their fine-tuned debris.

The appearance of Sarah-Jane Dale for “Passage” adds a touch of glamour to the otherwise spectral drones and haunting rhythms. Clarke seems relieved to have the focus on another part of the stage, but he warms to the experience as the show continues. By the time of “Last Transmission,” he can’t hold back a full-on smile. The audience – most of whom have followed Clarke’s career for more than four decades – never doubted that it would be a special night. Clarke, it seems, has to pass through it to agree.

Support came from the Sunroof project of Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller. Facing each other across blinking panels of Eurorack modules, the two great producers embarked on a journey into improvised electronics that led down unpredictable tributaries of blips and webs of bloops. Sunroof’s shows are as unique as snowflakes and even cooler, as they harness the flow of electricity to weave magical textures. On a stage filled with Mute’s main superconductors, they played their roles as human Tesla coils with inspiration.

Pictures of Vince Clarke and Sunroof live sets

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!

side-line.com

(Photo by Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke unveils his first solo album today, titled “Songs of Silence”. This ambient album, spanning 10 tracks, is now available in vinyl, CD, and digital formats through Mute. Clarke celebrates this release with his debut solo show tonight at the LSESU in London, with Sunroof (comprising Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones) as the opening act. Additionally, a Q&A session featuring Daniel Miller is scheduled at Rough Trade East on Sunday, November 19th.

After writing numerous hits for prominent bands like Erasure, Yazoo, and Depeche Mode, Clarke has finally ventured into a solo project. The album, recorded in his New York home studio, showcases photography and artwork by renowned Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards. Originating as a lockdown diversion, Clarke delved into the possibilities of Eurorack, a modular synthesizer known for its expansive and engaging configurations. “The process was incredibly enjoyable, and it was solely for my own pleasure initially. I never contemplated others hearing it. The learning and creative journey in my studio was the highlight,” Vince reflects. “It was a surprise when Mute decided to release it.”

As previously mentioned, Clarke adhered to two self-imposed guidelines for this album: exclusively using Eurorack for sound production and constructing each track around a single note, maintaining a consistent key. Vince humorously notes, “No one in my family, not even the cat, showed much interest in my studio work, especially after hours of drone sounds.”

Vince Clarke video singles

Here are the two previously released videos from the album.

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 Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke (Erasure, Yazoo, Depeche Mode) has shared “White Rabbit”, the latest track to be released from his forthcoming debut solo album, “Songs of Silence”. “Songs of Silence” is a 10-track ambient album which will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally via Mute on 17 November 2023.

In addition, Vince Clarke’s debut solo performance has been confirmed for the LSE, London on Friday 17 November, with a Rough Trade East Q&A confirmed for Sunday 19 November.

“White Rabbit” comes accompanied by an animation by Daniele Arcuri looking at the darkness surrounding our relationship with technology. Daniele Arcuri explains, “I wanted to openly address the themes of hyper-connectivity, anxiety, apathy, and voyeurism towards others’ suffering. This video is a bold and thought-provoking reflection on how technology is eerily shaping our existence, and challenges viewers to contemplate the human cost of an ever-connected world.”

Watch the video below.

Recorded in his home studio in New York, and featuring photography and artwork by Eugene Richards, work on the album began as a distraction during lockdown, a chance to finally get his head around the possibilities of Eurorack, a modular synthesiser format famed for its addictive and limitless configurations. Alone in the studio, Clarke set himself two rules: first, that the sounds he generated for the album would come solely from Eurorack, and second, that each track would be based around one note, maintaining a single key throughout.

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 Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke, known for his contributions to bands like Erasure, Yazoo, and Depeche Mode, has unveiled his first-ever solo album titled “Songs of Silence”. Set to launch on 17 November 2023, this ambient music album, devoid of lyrics across its 10 tracks, will be available on vinyl, CD, and digital platforms through Mute.

For enthusiasts eager for a glimpse, the track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” is now available. The accompanying video was directed by Ebru Yildiz, whose previous collaborations include artists like Laurie Anderson, Mitski, and A Place to Bury Strangers. Ebru Yildiz comments, “When I first heard the song, I felt like it encapsulated an entire lifetime. It’s an amalgamation of drama, peace, anxiety, serenity, tension, hope, and more. My aim was to make the visuals echo these myriad emotions.”

Crafted in Clarke’s home studio in New York, “Songs Of Silence” also showcases the artistic prowess of Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards through its photography and artwork. Interestingly, the album’s inception was a product of the lockdown period, born out of Clarke’s exploration of the Eurorack – a modular synthesiser known for its boundless configurations. “The whole process was incredibly immersive. It felt like I was on this continuous journey without an endpoint in sight,” Vince shares. “The surprise came when Mute expressed their desire to release it.”

During the album’s creation, Clarke adhered to a couple of self-imposed guidelines: one, the soundscapes should exclusively originate from Eurorack, and two, each composition should resonate around a singular note, ensuring a consistent key throughout. With a touch of humour, Vince adds, “My household isn’t particularly drawn to my studio sessions. In fact, even our cat would often retreat after an hour or so of listening to the continuous drones.”

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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Releasing on the 8th of September via Mute is John Came’s “Rhythmicon” album. The album, conceptually designed, sees Came utilising computer software and synthesisers, shrouded in enigma since its original pre-web launch in July 1995.

The comprehensive – obviously fake – biography of John Came portrayed him as an artist born in London, who emigrated to Australia seeking improved life conditions, then returned to the UK, and ultimately found inspiration in the northern Scottish isles, cycling from Skye to London.

The Rhythmicon, also termed the Polyrhythmophone, was an electro-mechanical musical device, conceptualised and crafted by Leon Theremin for composer Henry Cowell. The instrument was designed to expose the relations between rhythms, pitches and the harmonic series. It employed a series of perforated rotating disks, akin to a Nipkow disk, to disrupt the light flow between bulbs and photoreceptors in alignment with the disk perforations. The resulting interrupted signals created oscillations that were interpreted as rhythms or tones, contingent on the speed of the disks. Though capable of generating both pitches and rhythms, it is often labelled the world’s inaugural drum machine.

Nick Cope, member of the electronic band Pnin, introduced Came to the instrument. Nick, possessing the Rhythmicon, decided to reverse the logic and deduce harmonic and melodic data from rhythmic information, and conversely.

By employing sound and theory, John Came articulated ideas through a sequence of illustrative films that showcased Came executing his compositions (in an arhythmic fashion) into a Rhythmicon simulacrum, hence producing the rhythmic data for the pieces.

From this point, the rhythmic data of the pieces was translated into notes; subsequently, the two distinct threads of altered data were overlaid and fed into a computer capable of music notation/playing.

Who was John Came?

The identity of John Came was speculated upon, it was even suggested this could be a side-project for Alan Wilder, Vince Clarke or Daniel Miller.

There was an immediate conjecture that John Came was a pseudonym and his rhythmicon a product of the fertile creativity of an artist well-versed in electronic experimentation. Indeed, John Came was an alias, with the brains behind the concept being Simon Leonard and David Baker (known also as Komputer / Fortran 5 / I Start Counting), though the precise details concerning the instrumentation and the unusual album’s conception remain subject to speculation.

The album from John Came surfaced at a juncture when Leonard and Baker were transitioning from Fortran 5 to Komputer. In the current context, David Baker is diligently working on his solo endeavour, lonelyklown.

Here is the video for “Ink Tank”.

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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The collaborative album “Pennine” by Xqui and Dead Voices On Air will be released on July 25, 2023 through Re:Mission Entertainment, a label based in Oklahoma City. This marks the first collaboration between Re:Mission Entertainment and eMERGENGY heARTS, a label from Austin, Texas.

For those unfamiliar with the geography of England, the Pennines is a range of upland hills that run through various counties including Yorkshire and Lancashire. These hills are characterized by deep valleys and have played a significant role in shaping the country’s landscape, particularly during the industrial revolution when towns and cities emerged with chimneys, mills, and railway viaducts.

Xqui resides in Lancashire, while Spybey is based in Yorkshire, establishing a natural connection between them.

Since entering the “no underground” scene in April 2018, Xqui has gained recognition as an innovative and prolific artist, drawing comparisons to Eno, Basinski, and Mansell. Using a mobile phone, Xqui captures field recordings which are then manipulated using apps and combined with found sound clips to create his tracks. Xqui has garnered attention from peers and collaborated with notable artists such as Vince Clarke, Neil Arthur, and Mark Stewart.

Dead Voices on Air, also known as Mark Spybey, has continued his musical journey since his time with Zoviet-France in the 1980s and later as a member of Download. With over 90 releases to his name, Spybey has collaborated with musicians like Graham Lewis of Wire, Michael Karoli of Can, Faust, Robert Hampson, Simon Fisher Turner, and many others. After residing in Vancouver, he has returned to his hometown in the north of England. In recent years, Spybey has released his work through Emergency Hearts, a label based in Austin, Texas, featuring albums and remixes with artists such as Lee Scratch Perry, Mark Stewart, Coil, Corporate Uncle, and Muzlimgauze.

“Pennine” was produced between March and April 2023 in Lancashire and North Yorkshire, and it consists of seven tracks.

Below, you can listen to a preview of one of the tracks from the album and explore the various merchandise items available with this release.

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 Douglas Brothers) Out on Mute / Bmg on 18 August 2023 is an updated release of “Always (The Very Best of Erasure)”, out on vinyl for the very first time as a double disc heavyweight viny edition.

Originally released in 2015 to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary, “Always (The Very Best of Erasure)” offers a journey through nearly four decades of hit singles. Also included are post 2015 tracks such as “Love You To The Sky” (from 2017’s “World Be Gone”) and “Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)” from 2020’s album, “The Neon”. Those two tracks replace the “Be with You” and “Sometimes 2015” which were on the original release.

When it was released in 2015, “Always (The Very Best of Erasure)” was the fourth compilation album released by the British synthpop band Erasure. The deluxe edition contained two additional CDs with corresponding remixes, including some of their singles that did not make the compilation. The compilation followed the release of the first and only single from the album, entitled “Sometimes 2015”, a re-vamped version of the original single mixed by David Wrench. The single was released on 23 October 2015, and contained a mixture of previously released remixes of “Sometimes” as well as a new remix by Love To Infinity.

Erasure recently released “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” and their eighteenth studio album, “The Neon”.

Erasure are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo.

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 erikj.7) The Lille (FR) based electro synthwave duo Dark Minimal has launched the first single from their upcoming new album “Ghost Of Modern Times” (a hint at the early Depeche Mode track written by Vince Clarke). The single titled “Black Light” was produced by Peter Rainmain (People Theatre) at The Bunker Studio.

Dark Minimal consists of the duo Guillaume VDR and Ange Vesper. They debuted with the “Cold Black Room” album in 2022 accompanied by the twin singles “In Your Eyes (Extended)” and “In Your Eyes (Single)”. The album was followed by 17 concerts.

The new single “Black Light” holds 2 unreleased songs next to “Black Light (Single Edit)”, namely the B-side “New Day” and a remix of the title track by People Theatre. You can check it out below.

Below are the previous singles and the album “Cold Black Room” album from 2022.

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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(By Janos Janurik) Temperatures are dropping, days are getting shorter and from now on the umbrella is a permanent accessory when you leave the house. Nevertheless, you can also love autumn. One reason for this can be a good book that you can pick up and read in front of the fireplace without a feeling guilty.

For us, lovers of electric music, the book by Richard Evans, published on 17^th November, would be the perfect read.

Setting out to chart a unique chapter in the history of popular music, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” tells the story of a single generation of post-punk musicians, mavericks, visionaries and opportunists tinkering with primitive synthesisers in bedrooms, bedsits and basements around Britain, who assembled a potent cocktail of ideas and influences, took them apart, mixed them up, and reassembled them in entirely new ways to create a genuine golden age of British pop, and along the way creating some of the most enduring, iconic and influential records in pop history.

Drawing from years of extensive research, as well as from conversations with many of the movement’s key movers and shakers, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” sets out to examine the multitude of influences that led to the synthpop revolution that spanned 1978 to 1983; tell the definitive story of a true golden age of British pop through the careers, releases and stories of the movement’s pioneers, mavericks and superstars; and explores the era’s lasting musical impact and enduring influence, including it’s role in the development of hip-hop, house, techno and beyond.

Richard Evans has worked in the music industry for over thirty years in a variety of roles, including positions at London Records, Factory Records and MTV Europe. In 1998 he set up marketing consultancy The Fan Base and has been connecting musical artists with their audiences ever since. He is the founder of the This Is Not Retro website and record label and has worked for Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and Erasure since 2009. Richard is based in Dorset where he lives in perpetual fear of being asked what his favourite record is.

I have known Richard for several years as a result of being an Erasure fan for many years. I emailed him a few questions about his upcoming book and you can read his answers here. Of course, I also asked him about his favourite record.

SL: Richard, you have been the leader of the international Erasure fan club (EIS) and the webmaster of Erasure’s homepage for several years. I think your name has become known to the general public through this activity. Did you make it to the top of your career?

It’s quite complicated to talk about my career as at any given time I’m usually working on a few different projects simultaneously and it’s always very likely that they are all shooting off in different directions. But you’re right that Richard from the EIS is much better known than the Richard Evans who wrote the book! I also think that having worked with Erasure for as many years as I have definitely represents a career peak.

SL: With a background like that, one would have thought that you would write a book about Vince and Andy, about Erasure. Have you ever thought about anything like that?

Vince and Andy get offers to write books every year, on their own or as part of Erasure, but at this point in time neither of them feel the time is right to tell their stories. However when the time is right I very much hope that I will be involved in some way.

SL: You must have a lot of funny or exciting stories about your collaboration with Erasure. Could you tell us a short story that you particularly like to think back to?

I think the best stories are the ones that I can’t tell…

SL: Have you always been a big fan of electro music? Where did your interest in this music genre come from?

I kind of have and I haven’t. My book covers the period 1978-1983 which coincides with the time I was starting to discover music for myself and I always  consider my musical tastes extremely varied. Looking back however and I can see that the music that I was drawn to often had a very noticeable electronic element even when it wasn’t electronic music as such, so although I would enjoy, for example, rock music, the actual songs I was listening to would be things like ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ by Yes, or tracks from ZZ Top’s ‘Eliminator’ album. It turns out that those electronic elements run through a huge amount of my favourite music but I hadn’t really noticed it before. But I did always love ‘pure’ electronic music too. I can remember being blown away the first time I heard things like Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ for example.

SL: On 6^th November there will be a special event in London to launch your book “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” where you will interview Andy Bell and Martyn Ware (The Human League, BEF, Heaven 17) about their lives in electronic music. We already know about your connection with Andy, but what about Martyn? Have you known him for a while too?

I first met Martyn through a website I used to run called This Is Not Retro and I interviewed him a few times for that website, but I got to know him better through Vince Clarke who has a side-project with Martyn called Illustrious. Illustrious released a boxset called ‘House Of Illustrious’ under the name The Clarke & Ware Experiment a few years go and I was involved on the periphery of that release and got to know Martyn a little better through doing that. Then Martyn was working on his book, ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’, at the same time I was working on mine and I was able to introduce him to some helpful publishing people and also to share some of my research with him. We’ve only met in real life a couple of times so I’m looking forward to doing that at my launch in London and then again when we’re doing a joint event at the Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester the following week.

SL: Both Martyn Ware and Vince Clarke have special podcasts and radio programmes where they talk about synthesizer music, play such tracks and talk to famous artists. Do you listen to these programmes regularly?

I always listen to The Synthesizer Show, Vince’s radio show with Reed Hays, for pleasure of course because it can be very entertaining, but also so I can talk about it in the Erasure newsletter. I try to keep up with Martyn’s podcast Electronically Yours but he does so many of them that I’m always a few episodes behind!

SL: The foreword in your book was written by Vince Clarke who has been a living legend in the music industry over the last 40 years. How did he like your book? Has he already read it?

I sent Vince the manuscript so he would have an idea about what was in my book and I know that he has dipped into it, but I don’t know if he’s actually read it all… the book is 528 pages long so it takes a lot of reading and Vince is a busy man with a lot on his plate. I was delighted that he agreed to do the foreword though, as you say he is a legend and I’m extremely lucky to be able to call him a friend.

SL: Could you please name artists you met during your research or with whom you had conversations on the topic? By the way, who is your biggest hero from the electro music scene?

When I first started work on the book I did intend to talk to as many people from that time as possible, but I actually changed direction quite early on in the process simply because a lot of those people don’t actually remember the details very well after all these years. Instead I went to the original music and popular culture media from 1978 to 1983 and collected as many interviews, reviews, features and news pieces as I could – literally thousands of them – from magazines and papers from the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker to Smash Hits, The Face and ZigZag and constructed the narrative of the book from those original materials. Where I was fortunate was in having access to a number of those people who were available to answer questions, join the dots and provide extra clarification when I needed it. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of course but also people like Martyn Ware, Neil Arthur, Rusty Egan and Daniel Miller.

I don’t know that I have a biggest hero as such, but in the summer Karl Bartos from Kraftwerk published a book, ‘The Sound of the Machine’, with Omnibus Press, the same publishers who are putting out my book ‘Listening to the Music the Machines Make’, and I was able to go to one of Karl’s events and was introduced to him afterwards which was a huge thrill. He was absolutely lovely and very funny.

SL: You jokingly said about yourself that you live in constant fear that people will ask you about your favourite record. Is that really such a difficult question to answer? Could you name at least three records that have had a big impact on your life?

It really is a difficult question to answer. There are so many great records and my favourite one day might not be favourite the next day depending on what I’m listening to, how I’m feeling and what sort of a mood I’m in. So here are three electronic records which I absolutely love and which I never get tired of listening to: The League Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love & Dancing’, Propaganda’s ‘A Secret Wish’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Ultra’… but it really is an impossible question. If you were to ask me again in half an hour I would probably choose three completely different records!

SL: In the last two years, the music industry has also been hit hard by the pandemic. Many tours had to be cancelled or postponed. Which band did you see live for the last time from the electro music scene? Are there still concerts on your personal wish list?

A few weeks ago I saw Front 242’s concert in London which I think I was supposed to see in 2020 and which had been rescheduled four or maybe five times before it finally happened. It was a great show though. And I’m off to see Blancmange next week which I’m looking forward to as I really like their new album. As for a concerts wish list, I never saw the Eurythmics so I think they would be top of the list for me.

SL: We, electro music fans, are already very excited about your upcoming book. And what are you reading right now when you have a little “me time”?

I’m currently reading Martyn Ware’s ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’ as I will be interviewing him about the book at my event in a few weeks time. It’s very good, he has done some extraordinary things and has been involved in some amazing projects, so I’m very much enjoying it.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Photo by Reset Records) The English musician and singer Robert Marlow (real name Robert Allen) is no more. Marlow passed away on Thursday 22nd September after a short and unexpected illness. The news was communicated by a close friend of Marlow on Facebook. He would have turned 61 on October 21st.

About Robert Marlow

Robert Marlow was an English synth-pop singer, songwriter and musician and grew up in Basildon together with future Depeche Mode members Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and the late Andy Fletcher. But there’s more, he was also tied to Alison Moyet, with whom he played in a band, the Vandals. He ended up playing in a band, with Vince Clarke, called the Plan, and later French Look, with Martin Gore and Paul Redmond.

In 1983 Marlow formed The Peter Pan Effect. The project initially was born when Marlow was in a band called Film Noir, with future keyboardist and guitarist for the Cure, Perry Bamonte. After Clarke left Depeche Mode, Marlow approached Clarke and secured some studio time at Blackwing Studios with him and Eric Radcliffe. He was offered only one day, and decided to record “The Face of Dorian Gray”. This led to extra studio time. The single was released on Reset Records, a label founded in 1983 by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe. The B-side was the track “The Tale of Dorian Gray“.

After that, he released three more singles: “I Just Want to Dance”, “Claudette” and “Calling All Destroyers”. Due to little airplay and low sales the album was shelved until 1999 when the Swedish label Energy Rekords released it.

In early 2002 Robert Marlow founded Marlow, which was a duo with Gary Durant. The duo released the single “My Teenage Dream” in 2002. An album followed in 2009, “Inside Outside”, on Electro-Shock-Records which would release all of Robert Marlow’s later side-project albums. The title track was arranged and produced by Vince Clarke, who had also remixed a track on the album called “Home”. The follow-up album “The Future” was never released and the duo split up in 2012. However in 2013 he would release a reworked version of “The Future” as “The Future Remixes”.

After the split of Marlow, Robert Marlow once again performed as a solo artist and released a new 7 track EP, “The Blackwing Sessions”, again on the German label Electro Shock Records. The release held tracks with other vocals and instrumentals from the “1982–1984 recordings in the Blackwing Studios”.

Cleopatra Records would later on release standard US releases of “The Peter Pan Effect” and Family Fantastic’s “Nice!” in a limited edition box double pack with additional info about Vince Clarke’s involvements in the two projects on the back. Family Fantastic was a project formed in 2000 by Clarke and Phil Creswick (ex-Big Fun), featuring various high-profile singers from the UK.

I have had the pleasure to interview Robert Marlow a couple of times, and although he never became a big superstar, he was ok with what he had achieved despite having to wait decades to see his dreams come partially true. A sweet person, maybe too kind for this world.

Our most since condolences to Robert’s friends and family.

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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Erasure have announced details of their new release, “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)”, out on Mute on 12 August 2022 on fluorescent green vinyl, CD and digitally. “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” is an album of brand new tracks, each created using elements of “The Neon” universe resulting in a 10-track album.

Origins of this new album

Vince Clarke, finding himself with unscheduled time to spend in the studio, began manipulating files for tracks from “The Neon”, their 2020 album release. Vince explains: “With no agenda in mind, gradually a hidden landscape in the tracks began to emerge – one that revealed a track within a track, another world within ‘The Neon’.”

Clarke explored this further, progressing some of the techniques he was using until the tracks that make up “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” started to fall into place.

Andy Bell then took these tracks into the studio and, working with long-time collaborator Gareth Jones, began work on his parts. The final album bears little resemblance to the original source material – although echoes of “The Neon” can be heard from time to time. As a whole the album is an alternative look at Vince and Andy’s world.

Listen to the first chapter of “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” right below.

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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The sudden death of Andy Fletcher yesterday has – as predicted – caused a big shockwave throughout the electro pop community. Several former colleagues and people close to the band have in the meantime posted condolences.

We picked the most relevant ones.

Alison Moyet was one of the first to react: “I have just heard the news. Since we were 10. Same estate. Class mates to label mates. He who kept faith with all the old gang and they with him. It doesn’t compute. Fletch. I have no words.”

Andy Bell and Vince Clarke from Erasure posted a picture of Andy Fletcher with as text an emoji of a broken heart.

Fletcher’s former Depeche Mode colleague Alan Wilder (Recoil) posted this: “A real bolt from the blue to hear about former Depeche Mode colleague Andy Fletcher yesterday. My thoughts and condolences are with his wife Grainne and all the family at this distressing time. RIP ‘Fletch’.”

Mute and Daniel Miller: “We mourn the loss of our dear friend Andrew Fletcher who passed away yesterday. Such an integral part of Depeche Mode from the very start of their remarkable journey, he will be missed beyond words. Our hearts go out to his family, Dave and Martin and to all the wonderful fans and friends who loved him. With love from Daniel and his entire Mute family.”

Phil Burdett who used to form a band, Norman & The Worms, with Martin Gore and who went to the same school as Fletcher posted the following: “So very sad to learn of the passing of Andy Fletcher my old school pal & eventual member of Depeche Mode. Whilst I have never been a fan of the band I have many good memories of the times at the end of my fourth/fifth form at St. Nicholas & he was an integral part of a very fertile period in Basildon at that time & somehow when contemporary friends are lost the sadness felt is made more vivid. He used to come & see me & Martin play at Norman & The Worms gigs & I always thought it odd that he was positioned in between us in this photo…out of all three in the picture two thought they would make it big…couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap…RIP Fletch…”

Deb Danahay who was very close to the band during its earliest history posted the following: “I’m still in shock… Andy never took drugs or even hard alcohol… he just loved a pint or two of lager with the boys… He never learned how to drive. He’d get the train back to Basildon to meet up with his old mates… he was a fiercely loyal friend… Something I’d love to tell devotees… that they’d travelled the same route on the same trains… I was at a DM event in Berlin with Gareth Jones and someone asked what Andy brought to the recording sessions, Gareth Jones was adamant that Fletch brought the whole process together…”

Orchestral Manoeuvres: “Tonight we are celebrating selling out The Greek Theatre in LA but it will be touched by a great sadness as all of us say farewell to Andy Fletcher from Depeche Mode. A beautiful person in an amazing band. We send alll our love to his family.”

Jurgen Engler: “Crazy news… R.I.P. Andy Fletcher… we hung out in Dusseldorf way back in the 80s on DM’s Some Great Reward tour… the band had invited me to meet them after the show… he was such a nice guy, easy going and curious… it’s hard to believe he left so young… I know the world won’t forget him 🖤”

Pet Shop Boys: “We’re saddened and shocked that Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode has died. Fletch was a warm, friendly and funny person who loved electronic music and could also give sensible advice about the music business. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends and to Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. Neil & Chris xx”

Blancmange: “Very sad news. I have great memories of times we shared all those decades ago. On tour I never won a single game of chess against him. Before either of us signed record deals we both worked at London Bridge. me under that railway arch as a graphic designer and he in a suit, at a solicitors I think, or may be an accountants. I’d quite often bump into him, each of us doing a double take to process the sight of each other not standing on some tiny stage next to synths and tape machines.
A lovely man. A gentleman.”

Soft Cell: “We are so sad to hear about the passing of Andy Fletcher. Depeche Mode and Soft Cell will forever be part of each other’s early histories and genre-defining the early 80’s. What a band, and what a success story. We send our love to Dave, Martin, Daniel and all the Depeche Mode team.”

New Order: “We are saddened to hear of Andy Fletcher’s passing. Our thoughts are with Depeche Mode, their crew, his family and friends at this difficult time.”

This article will constantly be adapted with new quotes.

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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We have had our fair share of bad news in the past few years, also this year started with bad news, but this news will cause a shockwave in the electro pop music scene as Andy Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode, died this Thursday, May 26, at the age of 60. Fletcher leaves a wife and two children behind. No further details regarding the cause of death were given.

The news was confirmed on the band’s official profile on social media as you can see below. Our sincere condolences to the family.

Andy Fletcher, full name Andrew John Leonard Fletcher, was born on the 8th of July 1961. Often referred to as as Fletch, he and schoolmate Vince Clarke formed the short-lived band No Romance in China, in which Fletcher played bass guitar. In 1980, Fletcher met Martin Gore at the Van Gogh pub on Paycocke Road in Basildon and with Clarke, the trio, now all on synthesizer, formed another group called Composition of Sound. Clarke served as chief songwriter and also provided lead vocals until singer Dave Gahan was recruited into the band later that year, after which they adopted the name Depeche Mode at Gahan’s suggestion.

Clarke left the group in late 1981, shortly after the release of their debut album “Speak & Spell”.

Their 1982 follow-up album, “A Broken Frame”, was recorded as a trio, with Gore taking over primary songwriting duties. Musician and producer Alan Wilder joined the band in late 1982 and the group continued as a quartet until Wilder’s departure in 1995. From then on, the core trio of Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher remained active, up to the release of their 2017 album “Spirit” and ensuing world tour.

The role of Fletcher in Depeche Mode

Fletcher’s role within Depeche Mode was often a topic of speculation. In early incarnations of the band, he played (electric and later synth) bass but as the band evolved after Vince Clarke’s departure in 1981, Fletcher’s role changed as each of the band members took to the areas that suited them and benefited the band collectively. He was the only member of the band who did not receive a songwriting credit.

Fletcher handled many of the band’s business, legal, and other non-musical interests over the years. In later years, this included acting as the band’s “spokesperson”, with Fletcher often being the one to announce Depeche Mode news (such as record album and tour details).It apparently was also Fletcher who helped settling the dispute between Gahan and Gore following 2001’s “Exciter” album and tour over future songwriting duties within Depeche Mode.

His own label, Toast Hawaii

In 2002, Fletcher launched his own record label, a Mute Records imprint called Toast Hawaii (named after the dish) and signed the band CLIEИT. He coordinated the recording of their eponymous 2003 debut and 2004’s “City”, while also producing “extended remixes” for their subsequent singles “Price of Love”, “Rock and Roll Machine”, “Here and Now”, “In It for the Money”, “Radio” and “Pornography”. CLIEИT left the label in 2006 and no further activity with Toast Hawaii was held or announced.

Initially to support CLIEИT’s live shows, Fletcher began touring as a DJ. Whenever he was on hiatus from Depeche Mode, Fletcher played occasional festivals and club gigs in Europe, Asia, South America and so on. The sets included various exclusive Depeche remixes. In late 2015, Fletcher embarked on a small tour of European clubs.

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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Erasure have announced that they are cancelling the upcoming UK & European, South American and North American legs of The Neon Tour.

In a statement the band says: “We are very sorry to announce that, due to unexpected family circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we have had to make the extremely difficult decision to cancel the remaining stages of The Neon Tour and we will therefore no longer be playing our planned shows in the UK & Europe, South America or North America this year. Refunds are available at point of purchase.”

The band confirms that both Vince Clarke and Andy Bell are well. “Although bitterly disappointed to be forced to cancel the rest of the tour, (we) send (our) sincere apologies to anyone affected by the cancellations. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to being able to play to everyone again soon.”

This is quite a hard blow for the band as they already had to reschedule, postpone, reschedule etc a lot of their shows due to the pandemic.

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!

side-line.com

Erasure (Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) have announced details of a surprise EP, celebrating the first night of their UK tour. Out on CD, limited edition purple cassette and digitally tomorrow, Friday 1 October, “Ne:EP” is a 5-track companion piece to their latest album, “The Neon”, with 4 new tracks sitting alongside “Secrets” which originally appeared on “The Neon Remixed”.

Watch the trailer below.

Erasure’s UK tour kicks off in Glasgow, where they’ll play 3 nights at the Armadillo before a series of dates that includes a show at The O2 in London on 17 October with additional special guest Blancmange.

Erasure – The Neon Tour – 2021 dates

• 1 Oct 21 – Glasgow, Armadillo – SOLD OUT
• 2 Oct 21 – Glasgow, Armadillo – SOLD OUT
• 4 Oct – Glasgow, Armadillo – NEW DATE
• 6 Oct 21 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall – SOLD OUT
• 7 Oct 21 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall – SOLD OUT
• 9 Oct 21 – Manchester, O2 Apollo – SOLD OUT
• 10 Oct 21 – Manchester, O2 Apollo – SOLD OUT
• 12 Oct 21 – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
• 14 Oct 21 – Bournemouth, International Centre
• 16 Oct 21 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena – SOLD OUT
• 17 Oct 21 – London, The O2 *with additional special guest Blancmange
• 18 Oct 21 – Brighton, Centre

Erasure – The Neon Tour – 2022 dates

• 11 May 22 – Dublin, 3Arena – Rescheduled from 4 Oct 21
• 13 May 22 – Frankfurt, Jahrhunderthalle – Rescheduled from 21 Oct 21
• 14 May 22 – Cologne, Palladium – Rescheduled from 24 Oct 21
• 16 May 22 – Copenhagen, Royal Arena – Rescheduled from 26 Oct 21
• 17 May 22 – Hamburg, Barclaycard Arena – Rescheduled from 27 Oct 21
• 19 May 22 – Leipzig, Immobilien Arena – Rescheduled from 28 Oct 21
• 20 May 22 – Berlin, Max-Velodrom – Rescheduled from 22 Oct 21

*support from Wayne G across the UK dates

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!

side-line.com

(By our local correspondent János Janurik) “Hey, Janos, there you go…” It’s cool to be in email contact with Vince Clarke, founder of bands like Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure. He may not be a wordsmith, but good-humouredly, the living synthpop legend had answered my questions before he went on a well-deserved vacation. At the end of October he is going on a tour through the UK and Europe with his long-time bandmate, Andy Bell. As a small appetizer for the upcoming concerts, Erasure’s latest album “The Neon Remixed,” will be released at the end of July, featuring remixes of their 2020 work “The Neon,” as well as a brand new track “Secrets.”

Certain electropop tracks are often more successful in remixed version and sometimes sound better than the original. This genre of music simply suits remixes well. The same goes for Erasure. Although I’m not a big fan of remixes from the last two decades, this time I was very pleased with what I heard. The remix of “The Neon” includes partly complete new productions, partly extended maxi versions in the classic sense and of course there are enough tracks to dance along to. “The Neon” is also remixed and in this revised version it is a pure electropop perfection! “The Neon Remixed” features reinterpretations from artists like Kim Ann Foxman, Hifi Sean, Octo Octa, Paul Humphreys (OMD), Andy Bell & Gareth Jones, Brixxtone, Theo Kottis, and others. My first question to Vince Clarke was of course about this upcoming remix compilation.

SL: One year after the release of your last album „The Neon” its remix version will be released at the end of July. Whose idea was this remix compilation? Did you want to take a new turn with „The Neon” songs to take them in a new direction or was that the idea of the record company?

VC: The remix album was the idea of Mute Records. They wanted to extend the ‘life’ of the album, hopefully right up to the start of the „Neon” Tour.

SL: Old friends and colleagues of you, like Paul Humphreys or Gareth Jones, as well as a lot of new DJs and remixers can be found among the participating artists. Who selected and requested them for these remixes?

VC: Neil Blanket from Mute came up with the list of remixers. (Neil Blanket is the Head of Marketing at Mute – author’s note)

SL: The „Violate Flame” album also had a similar remix version, but my favorite one is still „The Two Ring Circus”. I would be glad to hear live that stunning remix version of „Leave Me To Bleed” by Vince and Eric Radcliffe one day in my life. Are there any such remixes from your back catalogue, which you think are even better than the original?

VC: I’m very fond of Orbitals remix of „Ship Of Fools”.

SL: As mentioned before „The Neon” album is already one year old. How did it affect you the last time you heard it? Do you still have the same favorite songs on the album? By the way, what are your current favorites?

VC: I tend not to listen to an album once it’s been released unless of course, I’m preparing tracks for our up and coming tour.

SL: This year there is another anniversary in the history of Erasure: Your debut album „Wonderland” was released 35 years ago. Many of the fans think that your current album has a lot in common with your first album. Have you noticed any similarities in the sound or in terms of the production work?

VC: I think there are similarities. Both albums are upbeat and positive looking and the sounds and arrangements are less cluttered.. (I think?)

SL: This October you are going on tour according to your plans. Have you put the new setlist together yet? Which are the songs that already have a fix place on the setlist?

VC: We’ll obviously be doing songs from ’The Neon’, a few old favorites and a couple of lesser known tracks from our back catalogue.

SL: There’s a rumor that Andy wants to sing the Eurythmics classic „Love Is A Stranger”. Are you planning to perform this cover version on the upcoming tour?

VC: ‘W & S’… (Wait and see.) 🙂

SL: In these Corona times it is difficult to make preparations for a tour. When can you meet each other to rehearse live?

VC: We start rehearsals in London, two weeks before the first show in Scotland.

SL: At your London concert you are going to have Blancmange as the opening act. I have always liked their music and a lot of fans know about the contact with Depeche Mode (Blancmange were the opening act on Depeche Mode’s 1981 and 1982 tours) and with Vince. Vince, you remixed „Living On The Ceiling” a few years ago and your fans are also eagerly awaiting the joint work with Neil Arthur. Where is this project lying right now?

VC: We’re hoping to finally mix our ‘collaboration’ at the end of July although it rather depends on UK and US travel restrictions.

SL: Vince, you’re also a label manager and host of an online radio show about the world of synths. Are there any news from the home of VeryRecords?

VC: There’s not a lot going on at the moment… perhaps a new release in 2022?

SL: And let’s not forget that your son son Oscar has just released his debut work. Vince, please, tell us a few words about this record and about your possible involvement on it.

VC: I contributed very little. My son did pretty much everything including getting it on Spotify etc.

SL: Back to the subject of touring. You are giving six concerts in Germany during the forthcoming tour in October. The German fans have always been very loyal to you. Do you have a story in your mind about Erasure and Germany that you still remember?

VC: Our very first show in Hamburg comes to mind. We played a venue called the Markthalle which was probably about half full. We were not well known in Germany at the time but I remember the audience was amazing… So warm and enthusiastic.

The fans are still waiting with great enthusiasm to finally see their idols live on stage again. Hopefully the Corona situation will get better and then we can enjoy Vince and Andy on a concert! Here you can see the tour dates once again. See you there!

“The Neon Remixed”

CD TRACKLIST (CD 1)

1 Secrets
2 Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) (Hifi Sean Remix)
3 Nerves of Steel (Andy Bell & Gareth Jones’ Sapphire and Steel Mix)
4 Fallen Angel (Saint Remix)
5 No Point in Tripping (John “J-C” Carr & Bill Coleman 808 BEACH Extended Remix)
6 Shot A Satellite (GRN Extended Remix)
7 Tower of Love (BSB’s Stella Polaris Remix)
8 Diamond Lies (Armageddon Turk Extended Remix)
9 New Horizons (Matt Pop Extended Remix)
10 Careful What I Try to Do (Brixxtone Extended Remix)
11 Kid You’re Not Alone (Theo Kottis Remix)

CD TRACKLIST (CD 2)

1 Secrets (Kim Ann Foxman’s Heaven Mix)
2 No Point in Tripping (Can Love Be Synth Remix)
3 Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) (Hifi Sean Dub)
4 Careful What I Try to Do (Brixxtone Synthwave Dub)
5 Nerves Of Steel (Gareth Jones’ ElectroGenetic Terabyte of Love Mix)
6 Kid You’re Not Alone (Paul Humphreys Remix)
7 Secrets (Octo Octa’s Psychedelic Visions Disco Dub)

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) June 25^th saw the release of ‘Terminal Love’, the third EP this year from the Norwegian industrial synth rockers Zeromancer, a worthy follow up to their previous releases ‘Damned le Monde‘ and ‘Mourners‘. In addition to interviewing the band about the EP, we also got hold of the guys behind the L’âme Immortelle and Architect remixes to get their thoughts on the song and the remix process.

Side-Line: ‘Terminal Love’ – feels like it’s a continuation of ‘Mourners’, like the next chapter or a different view of a similar story – an ongoing theme there? Or coincidence?

Alex Møklebust: Some of the continuation feeling you also get is probably how the song opens. Like ‘Mourners’ it starts with only synths and vocals, before the chorus hits. The chorus melody line on ‘Terminal Love’ is taken from a unreleased ZMR song during the making of ‘Sinners International’. Kim gave it another chance on ‘Terminal Love’ and the chorus finally made sense. Felt so good singing that melody line 12 years later. Never throw away ideas!

Kim Ljung: Alex has a memory like no other. All the time he surprises me with stories I have forgotten a long time ago. Though in this particular case I believe he’s a couple of years off 😉
The chorus of ‘Terminal Love’ is taken from a demo originally named ‘Collider’, which then again was a spin-off of an old Red 7 track (Lorry and Dan played in this band). Quite sure it was written in the aftermath of the ‘Death of Romance’ album. The pre-chorus of ‘Terminal Love’ I found on my phone where I always tape simple ideas with acoustic stuff, me singing on top. The date was June 26, 2014. One day later than the official release date which was about a week ago. Not so strange maybe, that musicians lose their minds carrying all this stuff around for years and years.
Regarding the connection with ‘Mourners’, I’m blind to those aspects. Just another Zeromancer song written in a fashion that suits that particular track.  What we always do. People has a tendency to ask what song or album we prefer ourselves. That’s irrelevant. I never set them up against each other. Not my job 🙂

S-L: When hearing the main synth melody line my first thought was “this is something Vince Clarke would’ve wished he made himself for a Yazoo song!”

AM: Thanks! I’ll take that as a huge compliment. The synth needed lots of movement to carry the first verse by itself. The modular setup works well for that and blends in with all the other instruments in a good way. The analogue imperfection is key.

KL: Word, Alex!
We had a lot of sessions at Room 13, Alex’s studio, where Alex sat and tweaked those knobs on the modulars. The idea was to create a signature sound for the intro of the song. Something significant that opens a track, and when you hear it, you instantly know which song it is.

S-L: The external remixes were both quite down-tempo and atmospheric, which also suits this track very well. Surprising that both chose this direction?

AM: It was a very pleasant surprise. Love the way it turned out. Both Thomas and Daniel had a short deadline, but managed to make two beautiful remixes. Thomas made it so personal that you immediately hear it’s a L’âme Immortelle remix. Respect.
Daniel also made ‘Terminal Love’ his own. The deep sub version takes you on this beautiful ride into Daniels universe. Love it. So talented musicians. We are so grateful for having friends all over the world collaborating with us. Musically, but also on a personal level.

KL: Both versions blew me away. I didn’t expect it at all. Pure genius. You can hear in an instant how much love and passion they put into this track. Fold my hands for those guys.

S-L: Alex, your alter ego SnifferGod ends the EP with an up-tempo remix, a good contrast to the other remixes, with great beats and rhythms! Some elements here puts me back to the end of the 80’s/early 90’s, like Nitzer Ebb doing a 90’s rave with S’Express and a touch of acid house, but layered in a 2020’s updated soundscape. Tell us what you did here!

AM: I had to work on this one in-between mixing the Zeromancer album. Mixing daytime and remixing nighttime.
You are absolutely spot on. Because of the high tempo, I wanted to get that 90’s techno feel combined with some 80’s EBM. Nearly all synths are from my modular and semi-modular setup. No samples, except sampling ourselves. It’s an up-tempo remix, maybe close to stress-techno, but the «party boy» Alex kicked in. Blame the late night sessions.

KL: Stress-techno or stress-synth. Hahaha….it’s an internal wordplay on a comment by the Foo Fighters-drummer in a recording session with good,  old Rick Springfield. He calls Springfield’s style stress-rock. And he does so as a kind of a compliment. However, who wants that type of label 🙂

Yeah, SnifferGod is Alex going back in time. A real killer version. Lots of raving flashbacks, with the God himself on the dancefloor.

S-L: Kim, where’s your mother this time on the cover photo? Vacation in the fjords, or where she’s originally from?

KL: This time the photo is taken on the roadside near Odda in Hardanger. The roads were obviously a lot more curvy back in 1957. Though they still are…
The family took these endless road trips from Sauda all around Norway every summer holiday. My mom is on the left, my uncle at the right of the photo. They are facing the glacier, Buerbreen. Both of them are carsick as hell. My grandfather took the shot, as he did with the previous singles.

I think the distance and the vibe of the photo suits perfectly with title of the song.

Check out this playlist of Zeromancer and SnifferGod remixes!

As with all three EPs this year, this one also features brilliant remixes, which made an easy decision to repeat the remixers part from the ‘Mournes’ article. Both Thomas Rainer (L’âme Imortelle/Nachtmar) and Daniel Myer (Architect/Liebknecht/Haujobb/Covenant etc.) had some to say about their contributions.

First off is Thomas Rainer from Vienna, Austria:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Thomas Rainer: They already made 2 remixes for my band L’âme Imortelle and are also label mates, so it was kind of obvious that we would also collaborate the other way around one day. It also didn’t hurt that I have also always really liked the music of the band.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Terminal Love’?

TR: I really liked the song from the very beginning. The vocals immediately caught my ear, but after further listening I really enjoyed listening to all the small details in the very sophisticated production.

S-L: The other ZMR releases in 2021 – what’s your opinion so far?

TR: I enjoyed all of the new material so far especially since it shows an even more mature form of the band. Something I greatly appreciate.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

TR: I usually approach all remixes by listening to the vocals alone first, and Alex’ stellar performance made it clear that it needs to be given as much space as possible with the music just being a supporting element. 

Check Thomas’ playlist of his remixes!

Next remixer were Daniel Myer from Leipzig, Germany:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Daniel Myer: I’ve known Zeromancer since they came to the scene. It’s a fairly small scene, so of course you know every new act that comes out, especially back in the day;)

We also share the same booking agency, so I went to see them live quite often when they were in town or at festivals. I always liked their style and I really like the songs and Alex’ voice.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Terminal Love’?

DM: Terminal Love had a real anthem feel to me. That’s why I approached a friend of mine to do this remix with me. I wanted to make it really big, like a “Pop Hymn” in the style of Imagine Dragons. But my friends was busy with her release, so I did the remix by myself.

S-L: The other ZMR releases in 2021 – what’s your opinion so far?

DM: I haven’t heard it all, only the last single, and I love Krischan Wesenbergs remix. He is one of my favourite producers at the moment.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

DM: For the remix, like I mentioned above, I had something big in mind, but I only had a very limited amount of time.
I was on vacation with my girlfriend and we had very specific plans for this time. I started the remix with this Imagine Dragons idea in mind and then send it off to my friend in NYC. She came back to me after a few days, telling me that she couldn´t work on it, so I had to finish it by myself. By that time I was in a very strange headspace, a lot of things went wrong on our vacation trip, so I was stressed out and I had to go see my mother.

So I actually finished the remix on the train to Bielefeld one morning, on the day of the deadline. Overall I had only 12 days to do the mix, Alex came basically in the last minute to ask me for it 😉 And my mother lives in the woods, so there was no good internet connections. I actually used the hotspot from my phone to deliver the remix to Norway! 😀

Check Daniel’s playlist of his remixes!

Listen to and buy the ‘Teminal Love’ EP from Spotify, Apple music and other services – click here!

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(Photo by Dag Stinus) Out on June 11 via Bandcamp and Beatify Audio (and one week later on all other digital platforms) is the newest single from the Danish synthpop duo SoftWave: “System Failure”. SoftWave consists of the duo Catrine Christensen and Jerry Olsen.

The track is a clear reference to how the Covid19 crisis has affected people mentally around the world. Singer Catrine Christensen explains: “System Failure” describes the duality of being isolated in many months without associating with others, and how much life with a computer can disturb the mind and even provoke frustration, depression and in rare cases – anger.”

The band formed in 2014 and debuted in 2016 with the EP “Together Alone” which was followed by “Together Alone The Remixes” in 2017. Their debut landed in 2019 with “Game On” which also got the remix treatment on “Game On 1Up” (re-released in 2020 with bonus tracks on Electro-Shock-Records).

After touring with OMD on the Scandinavian leg of their “Greatest Hits – Souvenir Tour” (feb, 2020), SoftWave was invited by Erasure’s Andy Bell to produce remixes for his forthcoming Andy Bell is Torsten project “Club Torsten!” among Vince Clarke, Bronski Beat and more.

Below is the band’s “Game On 1Up” release including a live track from their OMD support show at Oslo’s Rockefeller venue.

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!

side-line.com

Erasure (Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) today launch a new video evoking the spirit of Halloween with a spooky short for “Fallen Angel”. Starring Heidi N Closet from season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race – where she was crowned Miss Congeniality – and model Alexa Abraxas, the video was directed by Brad Hammer, responsible for the video for “Nerves of Steel”.

Watch the “Fallen Angel” video below.

The new video precedes the release of a vinyl 12” and a 3CD box set due out on December 4. The 12” features a brand new remix of the single from Georgia, whilst the 3CD singles boxset collects remixes from each of the album’s singles – “Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)”, “Nerves of Steel”, and “Fallen Angel” – including previously unreleased versions and forthcoming remixes from Confidence Man and Ben Rainey.

The band recently announced the first leg of their tour dates to take place in October 2021.

• October 1 – Glasgow, Scotland – Armadillo SOLD OUT
• October 2 – Glasgow, Scotland – Armadillo SOLD OUT
• October 4 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
• October 6 – Edinburgh, Scotland – Usher Hall
• October 7 – Edinburgh, Scotland – Usher Hall EXTRA DATE ADDED
• October 9 – Manchester, England – O2 Apollo SOLD OUT
• October 10 – Manchester, England – O2 Apollo SOLD OUT
• October 12 – Cardiff, Wales – Motorpoint Arena
• October 14 – Bournemouth, England – International Centre
• October 16 – Birmingham, England – Utilita Arena
• October 17 – London, England – The O2
• October 18 – Brighton, England – Centre
• October 21 – Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
• October 22 – Berlin, Germany – Max-Schmeling-Halle
• October 24 – Cologne, Germany – Palladium
• October 26 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
• October 27 – Hamburg, Germany – Barclaycard Arena
• October 28 – Leipzig, Germany – Immobilien Arena

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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(Text by Janos Janurik / Photo by Erika Tele) Vince Clarke has not only worked diligently on the current Erasure album “The Neon”, but he has also taken care of the artists of his own label, VeryRecords. After Brook’s debut album from 2019, he is going to release the second LP by Alka („Regarding The Auguries”) on 9^th October. The mysterious young musician named Bryan Michael, who is behind the pseudonym Alka, was briefly interviewed by our co-editor, Janos Janurik on the occasion of his upcoming album release.

SL: Three years after your first release on Vince Clarke’s Very Records label, you`re dropping a new album this October. If we include your previous releases too, this is already the fourth Alka album since 2007. When was the first time you started making music? Who were the musical heroes in your youth? For example, I saw some old photos of you wearing Nitzer Ebb T-shirts. Or was it just a coincidence?

BM: Very observant. I started with music production as soon as I got my first CASIO SK-1 and later SK-5 and loaded them up with Art Of Noise samples. I have always been a fan of diverse music in general but growing up there was something about the electronic sound that intrigued me and I was definitely drawn to obscure acts (for the states at least) such those on Nettwerk, Wax Trax!, Play it Again Sam, and Mute.

SL: After his musical cooperation with Paul Hartnoll and the release of Reed & Caroline’s debut album, Vince Clarke took you under his wing. I remember well when he told me in the late summer of 2017 with a smile in his eyes that the next Very Records release will come from a gifted librarian. How did you get in touch with him? Were you a fan of his works? What was he like as a mentor?

BM: I was just telling him how, when his Lucky Bastard sample CD was released, it was like a gateway to an off-limit universe of analogue synth heaven for me. His work was profoundly rooted in my love of electronic music. It wasn’t merely that he was an amazing tunesmith and producer but I really valued his love and appreciation for synthesisers great and small. Working with Vince has been an absolutely amazing experience and completely inspiring. 

SL: I think your new work will make the heart of all electro fans beat faster. It captivates the listener from the very first minute and unites many different styles of electronic music: ambient, industrial, synth-pop and so on. Who else was involved in the experimentation, who else was working on the production?

BM: For a bit now I’ve been rethinking Alka as a solo project and more of a collaborative unit. I had been working closely with fellow electronic music artist Todd Steponick but it wasn’t until we found Erika Tele, who we initially signed on for live video performance, that things really clicked. When she started contributing vocals and other elements we were excited about this progression in sound. We like to avoid beat-based genre prisons and favour diversity in our sound. 

SL: The first single, “Faito” (“Fight!” in English) is perhaps the craziest song from your new album and the Japanese voice samples make it even more mysterious. The minimalist, computer-animated video also perfectly fits with the mood of the song and Vince Clarke has created an excellent mix of it too. Do you have a special affinity for Asia, or is that some kind of homage to Kraftwerks “Dentaku”, or did your fellow musician, Erika Tele (artist and vocalist of Japanese origin), just influence you?

BM: At risk of being labelled a weeb 😉 my other love growing up, alongside synths and electronic music, was mecha design, anime in general, and a healthy dose of tokusatsu. I think that influence never really left me. Working with Erika was a coincidence but I value her multicultural input to Alka and we definitely bond with our mutual love of anime and Japanese culture. ‘Faito’ was one of those tracks that developed organically out of layers of EMS Synthi recordings and a discarded Japanese vocal take from another track through the magic of Todd’s sleek production. 

SL: The album title “Regarding The Auguries” can be explained in different ways. Some think that what is happening in the world at the moment has already been prophesied by the wise men, while others think that it is almost impossible at this time to plan even for a week. And what do you think? How do you see our current life? What did you want to teach the listeners with your music?

BM: One of the things that kept reoccurring during the production was the theme of birds and in particular the Japanese Tengu mythology, where a sort of demon is thought to transform into a bird. An augury was an ancient Roman form of interpreting omens or divination through the observation of birds. ‘Regarding The Auguries’ is just a poetical take on this process often referred to as “taking the auspices”. Had we all being paying closer attention to the auguries, however, we would’ve foreseen the woes of the current world. In retrospect, the album can be seen as a sort of real-time interpretation of how we got where we are today.

SL: And what do you do when you are not actually making a new album? Do you still make remixes for other artists? Or do you put together DJ sets? I know it’s almost impossible to talk about tours right now, but would you like to do live sets with the new album? Are there at least any plans to do something like this in the (hopefully) near future?

BM: I’ve recently finished up some remixes with my mate Roger O’Donnell, the keyboardist for the Cure, along with some other projects. I’m currently working on a DJ set for air in November but mostly I’m always working on new music along with my various synth building and repair projects. We had been working up our live set and playing out a few select shows before the pandemic and would love to continue that in the future, but for now we must heed the auguries and all be safe. 

Track list:

1. Fractured Time
2. Widthchild
3. Faito
4. Earth Crisis
5. Scrapple
6. Sourcery
7. My Heart
8. Solfège
9. Doubt
10. Dead Like Me
11. King Card
12. Solfège (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
13. Faito (Vince Clarke Remix)
14. Fractured Time (DJ Jekyll of Shelter Remix)

Regarding The Auguries will be released as a limited-edition CD, download and stream through VeryRecords on 9th October 2020.

Or check here on Spotify.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Erasure, the duo Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, have announced the first dates for their upcoming The Neon Tour to promote their 18th studio album, “The Neon”.

But you’ll have to wait an entire year before that.

October 2021 will see Erasure bring The Neon to venues across the UK, Ireland, Germany and Denmark. The tour kicks off at the Glasgow Armadillo auditorium and includes a show at the London O2 Arena on 17 October.

Andy Bell says, “We’re so excited to be able to – at last – announce dates for The Neon Tour! We’d hoped to have seen you sooner, but can’t wait to see you all in 2021. Until then, keep safe!”

Tour dates

• 1 Oct 21 – Glasgow, Armadillo
• 4 Oct 21 – Dublin, 3Arena
• 6 Oct 21 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
• 10 Oct 21 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
• 12 Oct 21 – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
• 14 Oct 21 – Bournemouth, International Centre
• 16 Oct 21 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
• 17 Oct 21 – London, The O2
• 18 Oct 21 – Brighton, Centre
• 21 Oct 21 – Frankfurt, Jahrhunderthalle
• 22 Oct 21 – Berlin, Max-Schmeling-Halle
• 24 Oct 21 – Cologne, Palladium
• 26 Oct 21 – Copenhagen, Royal Arena
• 27 Oct 21 – Hamburg, Barclaycard Arena
• 28 Oct 21 – Leipzig, Immobilien Arena

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!

side-line.com

(Interview by János Janurik – Photo by Phil Sharp) Erasure is going to release their 18^th studio album, ‘The Neon’ on 21st August. Their first single has already made it clear for the fans that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell are still world champions and hit guarantors in the synth-pop genre. Let’s forget about the Corona crisis and the shadow-side of life for a while now, let’s turn on the NEON lights and let our hearts and souls warm up in their lights! The boys are back in town! Vince and Andy joined Janos Janurik / our co-editor for an exclusive interview.  Enjoy reading!

JJ: It’s been more than 3 years since our last online interview. On the one hand, nothing has changed – and I am referring to international politics here; on the other hand, we have to face all the harshness of this Corona pandemic. One might think that the follow-up of ‘World Be Gone’ (2017) would be an even gloomier record. However, even after the first single (‘Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling)’) we knew that the new sound would be something ‘optimistic, more upfront’ – as you described it yourself. I also think that this is exactly what the fans – their ears, souls, hearts and minds – currently need to enjoy a bit of the beautiful side of life with the help of your music. The album will be released at the end of the summer, but still gives the listener the impression of a little bit of sunshine. Have you appointed this release date in order to help the fans go through these difficult times? Could you please tell me some words about the “Neon” online album launch party?

Vince Clarke: The release date was chosen by the record company. It was put on hold for a while but then they thought, despite the lockdown, that the fans would appreciate some new music. It’ll be an opportunity to chat about the new record, answer some fan question and talk to some of the people from Mute, involved in the “Neon” process (and drink beer).

JJ: Let’s stay with this first single release topic. Although the song was written before the Corona era its lyrics could not even be intentionally more up-to-date. ‘Walk through the city singing Hallelujah, wish for a lover’s touch’, ‘Head for the city feeling kind of lonely, I gotta play the part’. Andy, you also mentioned on your online video chat on the 1^st of May that you were living far away from your spouse at that time. In another interview you also mentioned that you could also interpret the song “Nerves Of Steel” – which will be the second single and will surely become an absolute fan favourite – in a way that you can do anything and survive alongside a beloved partner. How has the pandemic affected your private life? I suppose these times have also taken on your ‘nerves of steel’. How can you protect yourself emotionally as a highly sensitive artist right now?

Andy Bell: I think for Vince & I it was very fortuitous that we got the album mixed & the photos just right before the pandemic broke. Of course it is very sad & frustrating to be away from your partner especially when you could do with some help, but really he was a great inspiration in all honesty when I was writing the lyrics in Atlanta. I have never lived on my on ever since leaving my childhood home so this is a very good exercise in independence & it proves that I can look after myself though I prefer to be with someone. London has been a completely different place without all the cars & people it is slowly coming back to life but I prefer it to be quiet.

JJ: Vince, in that sense, you’re in a better position to have your wife and son right next to you. And if you want to experiment with your synthesizers alone you just go to your basement where you have your own home-studio. On the new album you grabbed more for classical analogue stuff that added more warmth and 80s’ flair to the new songs. I really like those space-like instrument parts in songs like “No Point In Tripping”, “Shot A Satellite”, “Diamond Lies” or “Careful What I Try To Do”. For me, this is one of the true essences of Erasure’s music, why I’ve been your fan for over 3 decades now. They guarantee goose-bumps and make the fans of the classic analogue synth sounds happy. What can you tell us about the development phase of the musical basis of the new songs? Was it a pure coincidence that you just picked these synths (like Sequential Circuits Pro-One and Moog) out of your huge collection? Is there a favourite synthesizer the sound of which you like best? 

VC: I never have a really clear idea of how the songs should sound in the beginning. My process has always been about experimentation. I do have my favorite synths but I try and incorporate as many different machines as possible. It’s more interesting for me and hopefully results in less predictable sound.

JJ: The new album is full of potential hits. The fans already know the pre-released single “Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)” and the song “Shot A Satellite”, released as an appetizer but there are several more that are sure to become fan favourites. Let’s think of the beautiful mid-tempo song “Nerves Of Steel” or of “Fallen Angel”, which is an energetic up-tempo song and immediately lures you to sing along. Another absolute favourite of mine is the synth-disco-anthem “No Point In Trippin”. “Diamond Lies” with its catchy oriental motifs is also a highlight of the album. Radio stations should play these songs in heavy rotation. Do you already have personal favourite hits from the new album? Which song is going to be the next (third) single?

VC: My personal favorite is “New Horizons”, cos I’m an old romantic at heart.

AB: My favorite is “Nerves of Steel” I just keep playing it over & over again it’s sounds like electro rock to me & I can`t wait to perform it live hopefully next year. It is a song about the grit & determination that it requires for a relationship to last. It is a celebration of world lovers no matter in which form. The last single will be “Fallen Angel” which is a roller coaster ride of emotions.

JJ: What I am also very happy about is that after a long time we finally have an Erasure ballad with piano underpainting again. “New Horizons” is definitely one of the most beautiful Erasure songs ever released. The music, Andy’s voice and the lyrics – everything fits perfectly! The song caresses the soul and gives new hope. Do you believe in the healing power of music? Which song touched you emotionally for the last time?

VC: For me, music has always been a comfort. I think that’s especially true right now. I’m not sure music is a healer but it certainly gives us hope. “Life In A Northern Town” is my current favorite comfort song.

JJ: The end track “Kid You’re Not Alone” also goes straight to the heart and brings the album to a nice conclusion. It reminds me of such crowning album closing tracks as “Because You’re So Sweet” or “I Bet You’re Mad At Me”. I am sure that fans will choose the brilliant ‘Neon’ album – which is colourful, warm and brings light to the world, just like its title – as their favourite. The only thing missing is a tour to have the work well done celebrated together. And then we, ‘kids’ will ‘not (be) alone’. I know that it is very difficult to plan live appearances at the moment, but is there a chance to see you at least on the Internet until live shows are considered safe?

VC: There might be a couple of small events happening soon but there are no plans for a full concert, especially because Andy and I are 3000 miles apart.

JJ: Please tell us a few words about the successful artwork which beautifully completes the musical content. Fans who have pre-ordered the special edition are sure going to be happy about the coloured NEON design.

VC: The artwork was inspired by a photo shoot we did at “Gods Own Junkyard”. A museum dedicated to the history of Neon.

JJ: In addition to Erasure, you also have your side projects such as Andy’s Torsten trilogy or Vince’s new discoveries on his VeryRecords label. Not to mention his radio program about the magical world of synthesizer music with Reed Hays. What releases are still to be expected from you until we can see you on tour again? Andy recently put an interesting playlist of his favourite mute songs together. I’ve also heard rumours about Vince’s possible collaboration with Neil Arthur of Blancmange. What does your musical life look like outside of Erasure?

VC: There is a new Alka album coming out soon on VeryRecords. The Neil Arthur collaboration is on going. It’s nearly finished but at the moment there is no release date.

JJ: Erasure are not only in the studio but also on stage in top form. As I mentioned before, these times are not necessarily favourable for tours. But Andy spoke in a radio talk in May about a possible US tour starting next March and about further UK/EU concerts in the autumn of 2021. Are you looking forward to meeting the fans? What would your message be to your fan community?

VC & AB: We are both really looking forward to begin a tour next year and properly showcase the new album. “Hang on in there” would be our message to the fans.

The new Erasure album can be (pre) ordered at Mute.

Erasure – “The Neon” tracklisting

1. Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) 
2. Nerves Of Steel
3. Fallen Angel
4. No Point In Tripping
5. Shot A Satellite
6. Tower Of Love
7. Diamond Lies
8. New Horizons
9. Careful What I Try To Do
10. Kid You’re Not Alone

Editor’s Note: I’m giving this album a 5 star rating.

© JJANURIK

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Photo by Phil Sharp) Erasure have just launched the new video for their latest single, “Nerves of Steel”, featuring over 20 LGBTQIA+ stars, including several best known for their appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Andy Bell: “This is my favourite track from the album, I am truly honoured that all our LGBTQIA+ friends were so creative during lockdown and helped us with this joyful video. Thanks for creating such a lovely piece of art!”

The “Nerves of Steel” video was produced and directed by Brad Hammer and Tyler Stone who also edited it. It features (in alphabetical order): 6, Amanda Lepore, Aurora Sexton, Candis Cayne, Cara Melle, Cheddar Gorgeous, CT Hedden, Delta Work, Detox, Joey Jay, Kiki Xtravaganza, Manila Luzon, Mayhem Miller, Mercedes Tyler, Morgan Michaels, Nina West, Pandomonia, Pearl, Raja Gemini, Sherry Vine and Widow Von ‘Du. Watch it here.

Erasure’s 18th studio album, “The Neon”, is out on Mute on 21 August 2020 and was written and produced by Erasure.

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!

side-line.com

Erasure (Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) have announced details of their 18th studio album, “The Neon”, the follow up to 2017’s “World Be Gone”. They also launched the album’s opener, “Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling)” which is also the first single and video from the album.

Listen to the track here:

The album’s vocals were recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, with Vince joining Andy at the studio sessions, and the mixing was done by the band in London earlier this year. Photographs were – not surprisingly – shot at that time at Gods Own Junkyard, a gallery housing a huge collection of vintage neon.

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!

side-line.com

On February 14th 2020 BMG will release the latest in their series of remastered and expanded Erasure CD reissues with a 3-CD edition of “Chorus”. It features a remastered version of the original album on one disc; a selection of new and classic remixes, b-sides and bonus tracks on disc two; and a live version of the entire “Chorus” album, recorded on Erasure’s Phantasmagorical Entertainment Tour, on the final disc.

This track is a brand new remix of “Am I Right?” taken from the forthcoming remastered and expanded 3CD set.

“Chorus” was Erasure’s 5th proper studio album and was released on 14 October 1991 by Mute Records in Germany and the UK and 15 October 1991 by Sire/Reprise Records in the USA. The remastered and expanded edition of ‘Chorus’ comes in deluxe hardback book packaging with brand new sleeve notes by Mat Smith.

MIDI slop killed the chorded voices

For the geeks, prior to the album’s production, programmer Vince Clarke had noticed technical limitations of the by-then-predominant MIDI sequencing standard, notably that the protocol’s low signal rate resulted in timing errors (known as “MIDI slop”) when multiple notes were triggered simultaneously. In an effort to eliminate this and give the album a “tighter” feel, he avoided the use of MIDI completely, using primarily analog synthesizers and the Roland MC-4 CV/gate sequencer. The avoidance of MIDI had other side effects on the sound of the album, such as the lack of chorded voices (the MC4 can only trigger one note at a time per instrument) and the absence of digital synthesizers and samplers, due to lack of CV/gate control on available models. Clarke would continue with this production technique for later recordings through the 90s.

Tracklisting.

CD1 – CHORUS REMASTERED
• Chorus
• Waiting For The Day
• Joan
• Breath Of Life
• Am I Right
• Love To Hate You
• Turns The Love To Anger
• Siren Song
• Perfect Stranger
• Home

CD2 – B-SIDES, REMIXES & RARITIES
• Over The Rainbow – Originally appears on the single ‘Chorus’
• Turns The Love To Anger (Vince Clarke Remix) – New Remix
• Perfect Stranger (KROQ Mellow Version) – Taken from ‘The KROQ Sessions’
• Waiting For Sex (Full Length) – Taken from the single ‘Am I Right?’
• Love To Hate You (Robbie Rivera’s Juicy Mix) – New Remix
• Twilight – Originally appears on the 2006 EIS release ‘Buried Treasure II’
• Let It Flow – Originally appears on the single ‘Am I Right?’
• Chorus (Fishes In The Sea) (Ben Grosse Remix) – U.S. Promo
• Siren Song (Alternative Lyrics) – Originally appeared on the 2006 EIS release ‘Buried Treasure II’
• Breath Of Life (Divine Inspiration Mix) – Remixed by Phil Kelsey. Originally appears on the single ‘Breathe Of Life’
• Love to Hate You (KROQ Blunder Version) – Taken from ‘The KROQ Sessions’
• La La La – Originally appears on the single ‘Love To Hate You’
• Mirror To Your Soul – Originally appears on the 2006 EIS release ‘Buried Treasure II’
• Waiting For The Day (Demo Version) – Originally appears on the box set ‘From Moscow To Mars’
• Perfect Stranger (Acoustic) – Originally appears on the single ‘Am I Right?’
• Am I Right? (Glen Nicholls Extended 12″ Mix) – New Remix
• Home (Minute Taker Remix) – New Remix

CD3 – CHORUS LIVE
• Chorus
• Waiting For The Day
• Joan
• Breath Of Life
• Am I Right
• Love To Hate You
• Turns The Love To Anger
• Siren Song
• Perfect Stranger
• Home

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!

side-line.com

In 2016 Erasure’s Vince Clarke founded the Brooklyn based record label VeryRecords, which he describes as being “a very small record label dedicated to releasing very fine electronic music”.

The label has been releasing some material in the past, including for instance a fifty-track download bundle of exclusive digital sounds from his various projects, next to albums by Reed & Caroline, Alka and Vince Clarke & Paul Hartnoll. As it looks now, they are aiming at one release per year.

The label now announces the release of “Built You For Thought”, the debut album by UK electronic duo Brook (consisting of Vocalist Beth Brooks and musician Howard Rider). The album will be released on 20th September 2019 and you can check out a teaser for the album’s sound via the video for “Diamond Days”.

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!

side-line.com

Earlier this year, in January to be precise, we posted this article “When an April Fools prank becomes reality: ‘STUMM433’ (feat. Laibach, Depeche Mode, …)” describing how Mute would release a box set featuring 50 Mute artists giving their interpretation of John Cage’s silent track “4’33”.

Today, The Normal aka Daniel Miller, has shared his tribute to John Cage’s “4’33””. It will be the first ‘music’ released by The Normal on Mute since the debut 7”. On Mute that is indeed because “Live at West Runton Pavilion”, The Normal’s second release, done with another Mute Records act Robert Rental, was released on Marat Records in Germany as Daniel Miller Robert Rental Live, with a black and white picture sleeve.

But back to 2019. Miller recorded his piece at a site in North London that will be familiar to fans of the label as the site of its foundation: 16 Decoy Avenue. Listen to The Normal’s take on “4’33”” right below.

Daniel Miller: “John Cage’s 4’33” has been present in my musical life for as long as I can remember as an important and inspiring composition. When the idea of every Mute artist doing their own interpretation of the piece came up during a conversation with Simon Fisher Turner, I immediately thought this was the perfect way to mark the label’s MUTE 4.0 (1978 > TOMORROW) series.”

Ironically, last year we had the idea to create an April Fools prank with a fake compilation with a lot of famous musicians covering John Cage 4’33 silent track. We decided not to do it, not sure if most of you would grab the irony.

Which Mute artists are featured in the boxset?

The boxset will feature over 50 Mute artists including A Certain Ratio, A.C. Marias, ADULT., The Afghan Whigs, Alexander Balanescu, Barry Adamson, Ben Frost, Bruce Gilbert, Cabaret Voltaire, Carter Tutti Void, Chris Carter, Chris Liebing, Cold Specks, Daniel Blumberg, Danny Briottet, Depeche Mode, Duet Emmo, Echoboy, Einstürzende Neubauten, Erasure, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, He Said, Irmin Schmidt, Josh T. Pearson, K Á R Y Y N, Komputer, Laibach, Land Observations, Lee Ranaldo, Liars, Looper, Lost Under Heaven, Maps, Mark Stewart / Sonskrif / The New Banalist Orchestra, Michael Gira, Mick Harvey, Miranda Sex Garden, Moby, Modey Lemon, Mountaineers, New Order, Nitzer Ebb, NON / Boyd Rice, Nonpareils, The Normal, onDeadWaves, Phew, Pink Grease, Pole, Polly Scattergood, Richard Hawley, ShadowParty, Silicon Teens, Simon Fisher Turner and Edmund de Waal, The Warlocks, Wire, Yann Tiersen and Gareth Jones.

The designers behind the visuals

Contributing designers include Simone Grant who worked with Miller on a lot of the early Mute artwork (The Normal, Fad Gadget and Depeche Mode); Steve Claydon, a member of Add N To (X) who designed for Goldfrapp; Slim Smith, who worked with Mute through the 1980s and 1990s; Malcolm Garrett, who designed the “House of Illustrious” box set for Vince Clarke and Martyn Ware; Tom Hingston, who has worked with Erasure and created the majority of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Grinderman artwork since the early 2000s; and Anton Corbjin, who has worked closely with Mute on many campaigns since the early 1980s, including those of Depeche Mode, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Fad Gadget.

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!

side-line.com

(Interview © Janos Janurik) 2019 is a year full of anniversaries and anniversary releases and tours, just think of bands and records or special concerts such as Alphaville (“Forever Young” (Super-Deluxe-Box)), the anniversary tour to A-ha`s debut album “Hunting High And Low”, special live performances of The Cure to their legendary “Disintegration” album – just to name a few…

This series is complemented by the re-release of Erasure’s “Wild!” LP. The album was originally released in October 1989 and put the duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell on the top of the charts. According to Erasure’s fan base this record is still one of their best and contains timeless classics like “Drama!”, “You Surround Me”, or “Blue Savannah”, which are still part of their concerts.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Wild!”, our contributor, Janos Janurik, invited three people involved in that project for an interview: the unique and unrepeatable Vince Clarke and his right hands, who also have a good reputation among Depeche Mode fans: the two producers, Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders.

They were all ready for a discussion and answered the questions of our colleague as follows.

Vince Clarke

SL: In the series of the Mute album re-releases the last Erasure LP of the eighties, “Wild! ” will be published on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary. Which (not only musical) memories of the autumn of 1989 are still awake in you?

VC: – I remember the music was recorded in my very first home studio in London. Mark Saunders worked with me whilst Andy recorded with Gareth Jones at the ‘Church’ studio.

SL: The producer of this album was Gareth Jones, a long-time studio employee of Mute Records artists like Depeche Mode, Wire, and Nick Cave. His partner in the production team was the legendary mix master Mark Saunders. You worked together with Gareth on other Erasure albums. Which cooperation do you remember best? Do you have a favourite remix of Mark’s Erasure catalogue?

VC: – Mark did a fantastic remix of ‘You Surround Me’. He was/is very easy going and we got on well. At that point I didn’t really know Gareth.

SL: The single releases “Drama!” and “Blue Savannah” are still fix parts of your live setlists. On the Violet Flame Tour you performed remixes of the rarely played “Wild! ” singles “Star” and “You Surround Me”. Except “2000 Miles” you actually played all album songs at your previous concerts. Are you still satisfied with this material? How do you rate this album after 30 years of time?

VC: – Not bad. 🙂

SL: The “Wild! Tour” has perhaps been the biggest of your tours so far. You toured the world with a gigantic stage set. For the first time you had dancers on stage besides the background singers and there were also several costume changes and two different setlists. During this tour you also played live behind the iron curtain in Prague and then in exotic places like South America, Japan and Australia for the first time. Not to mention the legendary finale at the Milton Keynes Bowl. Do you have any special souvenirs from this tour that will bring back good memories?

VC: – I don’t have any souvenirs, but I remember that the tour was very exciting, especially play to such big crowds.

SL: The second disc of the forthcoming re-release will feature 14 bonus B-sides, remixes, rarities and live recordings, five of which are previously unreleased, including a brand-new remix of “Drama!” by Richard Norris and a recently discovered unreleased mix of “How Many Times?”. This song is my favourite song from the album and which one is yours?

VC: – “Blue Savannah”.

SL: But Erasure is not a nostalgia band of the 80s, because in the meantime you have released more than a dozen albums that have all been received positively – by fans as well as critics. What does the band-future of Erasure look like? Are there any plans for new material yet?

VC: – We hope to be writing for a new album in 2019.

SL: What would your message be for your fan base?

VC: – THANK YOU!

Gareth Jones

SL: Gareth, you’re supposed to be the in-house producer for Mute Records. Before working with Erasure, you’ve worked with renowned Mute artists such as Depeche Mode, Wire and Nick Cave. How do you remember the first meeting with label boss Daniel Miller and the studio work in Berlin with Depeche Mode on their „Construction Time Again” album?

GJ: – I have told this story many times, so I will keep it brief.

I was introduced to Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode by my friend and mentor John Foxx. He owned a studio called “The Garden” in Shoreditch in East London, and Daniel and Depeche Mode were interested in recording there. I was working for John at the time and he sent me over to the MUTE Records office, which at that time was in Kensington Gardens Square in West London, to meet the whole team. I was a bit nervous, but they were all super nice and normal people, and agreeably weird. Luckily for me they felt good about me too, and offered me the job.

SL: How did the request to produce Erasure’s „Wild!” album come about? Have you had contact with Vince Clarke and Andy Bell before?

GJ: – Before we started working on the “Wild” album I didn’t know Vince or Andy very well at all. For this record they had decided to make sure that there was plenty of time for Andy to work on his vocals. They were looking for someone to engineer and produce the vocals.  I had already been working in Berlin with the incredibly talented Diamanda Galas.  She had met Andy a couple of times I believe (I don’t know where) and she was kind enough to recommend my vocal production skills to him. So that is how I join the team.

SL: How was it working with them compared to Depeche Mode?

GJ: – This was a very different process from working with Depeche Mode. Initially I was hired to record and produce Andy’s vocals. Vince was in another studio with the other co-producer of the record, Mark Saunders. We were in the church studio and I think Mark and Vince were in Swing Studios. 

The studios were both in North London so we were able to have meetings often, and we were continually exchanging musical and vocal ideas.

When it came to mixing it was decided that Mark and I would both mix the album. I was mixing in the Church and Mark was mixing in Konk.  We were all determined to get the best out of the songs, so we all pushed each other to do our best like a Sound System contest.

I remember the first single “Drama!” went back and forth between our two studios a few times! Eventually we were all happy.

SL: Are there any favourites from this album that you are still proud of today?

GJ: – The whole record was an amazing experience. Vince and Andy are such strong song writers, talented musicians and all around wonderful people that it was a real pleasure and privilege to be a part of this great record.

I loved the whole process and I have a special affection for “Drama!” and” Blue Savannah”.

SL: You were not only involved in the „Wild!” project as a producer, but also as a remixer, for example the „Syrinx Mix” from „You Surround Me”, which is one of my favourites. Do you have a favourite remix from Erasure`s discography that you particularly enjoyed working on?

GJ: – I did 2 remixes of “Blue Savannah” (“Der Deutsche Mix 1 & 2”) in Berlin with my friends Sun Electric – Stephan Fisher, Max Loderbauer and Tom Thiel. I really enjoyed this – they are all so musical, creative and professional. It was truly a fantastic experience.

SL: After the „Wild!” album you had numerous co-productions with Erasure – among them you worked on one of my favourite albums from them, on the self-titled „Erasure”. And how about you? Do you have a favourite album from Erasure?

GJ: – The first album, “Wild!”, is dear to my heart. I also love the “Erasure” album. It was such a pleasure to work with my friend Thomas Fehlmann as a co-producer on the album and he bought so much to the table. I was so happy that Diamanda agreed to do a guest vocal on the record. We also had the pleasure of an amazing LP mix by Francois Kevorkian.

– The „Wild!” album also included an extensive world tour. Did you see Erasure live back then? If so, where? What did you think of them as a live act?

GJ: – I saw the Wild tour in Hamburg I think. I invited my parents to come along. The show was incredible. I am always impressed by Erasure live shows. The love between the band and the audience is so tangible and touching. Andy is an outrageously talented frontperson, and Vince is always Mr Cool. What a great combination!

SL: What are you currently working on and what are your plans for the future?

GJ: – I am currently writing and recording a solo electronic music project and a new collaboration that I am very excited about.

This year I will also be writing and releasing a new LP for the “Spiritual Friendship” project – an ongoing collaboration with the amazing Nick Hook.

I am also producing an exciting and enjoyably weird electronic pop album with American and European musicians for a new project called “Of Love And Lust”.

I will be back in Yann Tiersen’s fantastic new studio on the island of Ushant (Ouessant) later in the year, helping out with a new recording.

Mark Saunders

SL: Among your early outstanding works is the engineering of some of David Bowie’s songs from 1985 and 1986, who was the idol of several generations of musicians, including Erasure’s Vince Clarke. How do you remember this studio work?

MS: – I feel incredibly lucky to have been in a studio to witness the true legend, David Bowie at work. It was just under a year from starting at West Side Studios in London when Bowie first came in to work on songs for the movie that he was also acting in – „Absolute Beginners”. Before that, I’d been making demos on a Tascam 8-Track tape machine in a dilapidated cow shed on my dad’s farm. Working with Bowie was an unfathomable step up! When the Bowie sessions started, I was transitioning from assistant engineer to house engineer. My bosses, producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, China Crisis, Elvis Costello, Bush, Bowie & Jagger), were constantly throwing me in the deep end on sessions. There were quite a lot of jazz songs that we recorded for the Absolute Beginners soundtrack were and there would often be drums, bass, piano, guitar, and sometimes up to 9 brass players all playing together in the studio. It was intense as a newbie engineer to get thrown in on those sessions. I remember one session feeling somewhat overwhelmed and turning around to my boss Alan to get some confirmation that I was doing ok and he was asleep on the sofa behind me! For Bowie’s songs for the soundtrack, when the band were laying down the backing track for Bowie to sing on, Bowie would always sing along a ‘rough’ vocal to keep the band inspired. His vocals were always brilliant and as far as I was concerned, nearly every one could have been the master vocal take. But surprisingly, when Bowie was happy with the backing track, he would approach singing lead vocals in quite a clinical way. He would often sing one line, stop, and listen back to it before moving on to the next line. He would also quite regularly check his vocal on the demo version of the song to during this process. His vocals always sounded fantastic though. The pinnacle of those Bowie sessions was when on one day, we recorded the epic title track „Absolute Beginners” and then late in the afternoon, Mick Jagger came in to record „Dancing In The Street” for Live Aid! This was incredible for me – this was a year and one day from starting in a professional studio – and I was working with Bowie & Jagger! This being before cellphones and frustratingly, I had no way to text friends and say – „You’ll never guess who I’m working with today!”. „Dancing In The Street” was one of the first records I ever got an engineering credit on.

SL:Erasure are part of the success story of Mute Records. Your first commissions with the record company included remixes of Depeche Mode`s „Strangelove” and „Everything Counts”. These tracks are – after 30 years – still firm parts of the Depeche Mode club evenings. Did you like making them (with Tim Simenon)?

MS: – I think that these remixes occurred just after or around the time that I worked with Tim on Neneh Cherry’s brilliant debut album „Raw Like Sushi”. Tim was great to work with, he was young and came from the DJ-ing aspect of music rather than being a studio musician or an engineer and he had a naive (in a good way) approach to making records that kept things moving along and fresh sounding – particularly noticeable on „Buffalo Stance” by Neneh Cherry – her first hit. The „Everything Counts” Depeche remix was a pretty simple affair. I seemed to remember hiring in a Roland SH-01 for that session which was definitely used for the bass. Personally I would have preferred to have made the remix more musical – but Tim was happy to keep it more of a hardcore club track. Our Strangelove remix was much more complicated and fraught with technical difficulties.

In those days I was syncing my Atari 1040st computer, running Cubase, to a timecode track (SMPTE) which was recorded on one track of the multitrack tape that contained the song.

This quite often lead to difficulties because after hours or playing and rewinding the tape, the tape would start to wear out. Usually the code track was on the edge of the tape and the edges wore out faster.

So as it go late into the night, we had real problems syncing the computer to the tape machine. And the computer was running all the new parts and samples that Tim and I were adding for the remix. I think this one turned out pretty well though!

SL: Before the release of “Wild!” you also made remixes for Erasure songs like „A Little Respect”, „Stop!” and „Knocking On Your Door”. Did you follow the band`s history from the very beginning?

MS: – I’d been a fan of Vince since the early Depeche days and the Yazoo era but I missed the early Erasure days. My first Erasure work was a remix of „A Little Respect”. I’m sure this came about because of my work for Tim Simenon who was signed to Rhythm King records which was based out of Mute’s offices. I didn’t meet the band though until I mixed the „Crackers International EP” which included the songs „Stop!”, „Knocking On Your Door”, „God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and – my favourite – „The Hardest Part”. I mixed „The Hardest Part” first and that was the first time I met Vince – when he came in to check the mix. I was nervous and nobody had warned me about his very dry, deadpan sense of humour. For one thing, when he listened to the mix, he barely moved. He barely even seemed to blink! He didn’t tap his feet, smile or turn around to me to give me an assuring look – nothing! He sat like a robot with his head between the speakers. I took this as a sign that he must absolutely hate the mix – I was literally pacing back and forth behind him wondering how I’d got the mix so horribly wrong! Eventually the song finished, Vince stopped the tape and then paused for what felt like an eternity before turning around and saying „I love it!” And then with a dead straight face he said – „Just one thing… Did you not like like the kick drum?” My heart nearly stopped! Had I really missed out the entire kick drum track on an Erasure record! But before I had a chance to respond, he said „Just kidding… there’s no kick drum on this song!”

SL: In 1989, Erasure`s „Wild!” album was released that still belongs to the fans’ favourites and includes such classics as „Drama!” and „Blue Savannah”. What memories can you recall of these studio works with Erasure?

MS: – As Erasure had time constraints for the making of „Wild!”, I was hired to co-produce the tracks with Vince Clark and Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Wire, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Interpol) was hired to work on vocals with Andy. When Vince and I finished a track in his basement studio in his house in Notting Hill, London, the multitrack would be whisked off to The Church studios in Crouch End in the north end of London for Andy to sing on. On the first day of the recording, Vince sat me down and said – in his deadpan way, „Do you want to know how much money you’re going to make from this album?” Before I could utter much more than „Oh… well… err”, he’d tapped away on a calculator for a few seconds and was holding up the resulting calculation to show me and said „How’s that?” To which I gulped and said „Err… that looks just fine… thanks.” Vince’s basement studio contained nearly every great synth known to man and it was beautifully laid out, with a mixing board against one wall facing the window, and the other three walls had floor to ceiling racks laden with all the synths. One thing completely stunned me on day one though. We decided on what song to start with and Vince then proceeded to expertly get a kick drum sound from one of his synths – an ARP 2500 I think. When he was happy with it, he said, „OK let’s print that to tape (an Otari 24 track 2in Tape machine)”. I said „Are you sure you want to record it now?” He frowned and said „Why not?”.

I said, „Well, wouldn’t you prefer to hear the kick drum in context with a bass and maybe a couple of synths before you commit it to tape?” He still looked completely baffled – like I was asking him to pilot a space craft to the moon or something else outside of his comfort zone.

He replied „But this is the way I’ve always done it.” – which is a fair response from someone whose already produced a shed load of mega hits! „OK”, I said, „but surely, you have more than enough excellent gear here to have all the parts running live from your sequencer and refine all the sounds in context with each other before we need to commit to tape – right?” Long pause and more deep frowning – followed by „I’ve never thought about doing it like that”. This blew me away! This was Vince Clarke, the guy that I watched on Tomorrow’s World many years before I got into the music biz explaining how the Fairlight could sample sounds and play them musically on a keyboard and then sequence them to create a song – all inside a massive computer. Ground breaking stuff! And yet here was the same guy who hadn’t thought of running multiple parts on his sequencer before! Anyway, luckily, rather than kick me out of his studio, Vince gave my suggestion a go and after a couple of hours he said „I like this way of doing it…” and so that’s how we worked from then on. Vince is a musical genius and I loved working with him. He was all about keeping stuff dead simple and keeping songs short… He would quite often say „That’ll do”, like a builder who’s just skimped on the bolts holding some majorly important steel beams together. An example of the Vince Clark genius was the rising and descending piano riffs in „Blue Savannah”. Vince, during the programming/recording said „This needs a piano riff”. Then he just seemed to sit there and stare into space. After a while, I said „Why don’t you just try and play something?” He said… „Sshh… I’m thinking!” After what seemed like an eternity, he started furiously typing numbers into his ancient BBC UMi computer. Minutes later, he sat back and said „Right, let’s have a listen then.”… and my jaw dropped when the brilliant piano riffs popped out of the speakers. He had worked it all out in his head and then had typed in – numerically – each note, the position of the note, the note length and the velocity. Bloody brilliant! At the beginning of the record, Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, said to me „I want you to try and get Vince to try some new sounds on this record – experiment a bit more. He’s been using the same sounds for years.” So I tried, but I didn’t push the idea with Vince because I loved all his tried and trust analog synth sounds. We did use some samples from my Akai S1000 sampler a few times, like the acoustic guitar sample on „Star” – although Vince had no interest in using a sampler, as far as I remember. When the recording was finished, both Gareth and I started mixing the songs. I can’t remember if we both mixed all of the songs or not – and I can’t remember exactly who’s mixes ended up on the record – but I think it was a fairly even split between Gareth’s and mine. I mixed in Konk Studios, just up the road from The Church where Gareth was mixing. Konk, owned by The Kinks, had a great big room with a full size snooker table in it which was fab. Vince drove up from Notting Hill one day during the mixing and said „Come on, take a break… Let’s have a game of snooker!” So that’s what we did – we played at least two games and then I said, „OK, let me play you some mixes then”, to which he replied ‘nah, I only came up here for a game of snooker’. I assumed he was joking because, for one thing, the drive from his house to Konk was a fairly arduous journey across a big chunk of London. He told me he was deadly serious though and it took a great deal of effort to persuade him to stay and listen to a mix. I decided to play him „Blue Savannah”. Now, if you’ve ever heard the acoustic slide guitar samples in my 12” remix of this song… well, I had originally put them in the album version. I found the samples in my library while I was working on the song and when I loaded them into the Akai S1000, I loved them! They fit the key of the song perfectly. But somehow I had a feeling that I might be on shaky ground when Vince heard them. My instinct was right. When I played him my album mix, he assumed his normal position… stone faced, and dead still in front of the speakers. But when the first slide guitar riff came in, he positively flinched… like someone had slapped him around the face! But amazingly he kept listening without moving again until the end of the song.

Then he turned to me and said „Yeah, it’s good… but… I would never, ever, have a slide guitar in any of my songs… ever!” So that was the end to the slide guitar in the album mix. And now I think about it… how did I ever get away with putting them in the 12” version?!

Vince had an unerring confidence in what he was doing. If Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, had any doubts about anything to do with the record, Vince would say „Don’t worry Daniel, it’s going to go to number 1” – which of course it did, in it’s first week of release!

SL: A remix of „You Surround Me” also bears your name. You made a danceable club hit out of that original ballad. Erasure even played this version live on their Violet Flame Tour 2014. Please tell us a little about it! Which song, by the way, is your favourite from the „Wild!” album?

MS: – I was in Mayfair studios in London for this remix. I remember getting depressed because for quite a long time I couldn’t get anything going that I liked – mainly because of the tempo of the track I think. Then I tried playing double tempo drums along with the song and all of a sudden I was up and running and excited about the mix! I’m pretty sure I was thinking Billy Idol when I did this version. I was pretty happy with the result and was very flattered to learn that the band played my version live. My favourite song from „Wild!” is definitely „Blue Savannah”. My next favourite song that I worked on with Erasure was „All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love” from the album „Nightbird”.

SL: Not only for Erasure, but also for Yazoo you made a remix for their hit „Situation”. Did you see the duo live during their reunion 10 years ago?

MS: – Working on the remix of „Situation” with Daniel Miller was a great honour. What an absolutely perfect pop song… and less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds long! On my website is an extended edit of the song that never got released… actually, I don’t think I ever played it to the band or Mute. I was lucky enough to see them in New York during their reunion tour. They sounded great. Alison Moyet is awesome… I got to work with her too a couple of times and she, like Vince, has a very dry sense of humour and is very down to earth.

SL: What future plans and current works in progress do you have?

MS: – I moved back from the States in 2017 which was a big deal after 21 years of living there. I feel much more inspired musically in the UK. I’m in love with the BBC 6 Music radio station… best radio station I’ve ever heard. They play the most eclectic range of music that you could possibly imagine but they somehow nearly always play stuff that appeals to me! I have two young boys and for a few years now life has been more about family life than pursuing my career but I feel that as they are getting older there is going to be room for both – hopefully soon!

P.S.: A short info for all those who have missed a conversation on the topic with Andy Bell, he is currently very busy with his new solo project “Torsten in Queereteria” (release date: 12 April 2019) and therefore unfortunately could not be at our disposal.

“Erasure – Wild! – 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition”, is out Friday, 29th March 2019 via BMG / Mute Records.

CD1 Track Listing:

• Piano Song – Instrumental
• Blue Savannah
• Drama!
• How Many Times?
• Star
• La Gloria
• You Surround Me
• Brother and Sister
• 2000 Miles
• Crown Of Thorns
• Piano Song

CD2 Track Listing:

• Sweet, Sweet Baby – The Moo Moo Mix
• Drama! – Richard Norris Mix (unreleased)
• Blue Savannah – Mark Saunders 12″ Mix
• Piano Song – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
• Runaround On The Underground – Remix
• How Many Times? – Alternative Mix (unreleased)
• Supernature – Daniel Miller & Phil Legg Remix
• Star – Soul Mix
• No GDM. – Unfinished Mix
• Drama! – Act 2
• Brother and Sister – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
• Dreamlike State – 7″ A Cappella Mix (unreleased)
• You Surround Me – Gareth Jones Mix
• 91 Steps – 6 Pianos Mix

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Subject:2 is a new name active at the wider fields of synth-pop music. The English duo Gary Starky – Sandra Tully joined hands with German label Electro Shock Records to unleash their debut full length.

Content: Gary Starky has worked with Vince Clarke and that’s something you can easily notice. “Forward/Return” is a classical electro-pop formation getting back to the early years of the genre and more especially to bands such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, OMD and co. The songs are indeed very inspired by 80s music although there also is something more personal and contemporary running through the album. The songs remain catchy and melodic. One of the most noticeable songs is the cover version of the disco-hit “Feels Like I’m In Love” from Kelly Marie.

+ + + : Subject:2 deals with the most pure format of synth-pop. You sometimes get the impression to hear Depeche Mode and/or Erasure hiding in the body of this album. Originality is far to find, but it however an accomplished and mature production is. Most of the songs have been sung by Gary Starky, but I also like the female backings. The songs bring no surprises, but there are a few outstanding cuts featured. I especially want to mention “Rubber Made”, which sounds hot and danceable.

– – – : If you’re in search of visionary electro-pop formations, you better can avoid Subject:2. I don’t care about good ‘copyists’ and it’s even quite strange to say that the most atypical song of the album (cf. “Better Luck Next Time”) also is the less convincing cut from the list.

Conclusion: “Forward/Return” is a rather ‘classical’ synth-pop album bringing the good-old 80s taste alive and revealing several cool songs. Let’s keep an eye on this band!

Best songs: “Rubber Mode”, “Life”, “Get Things Started”, “Run Away”, “Feels Like I’m In Love”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.subject2music.com / www.facebook.com/Subject2Music

Label: www.electroshockrecords.tictail.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Electro–Shock–Records/105471026168220

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Ano 2018 German synth-pop formation !Distain became a duo. Alexander Braun and Manfred Thomaser both remain the only members on board and strike back with a new chapter in the !Distain discography. It’s the band’s eight album since their set up in 1992. The work was preceded by the singles “SynthPopBoy” and “Maid Of Freedom”. Alex Braun also release a solo-EP with cover versions entitled “Eiskalt”.

Content: !Distain remains faithful to their original influences. The band is driven by ‘classical’ synth-pop music, which moves from ‘happy-pop’ songs to sweet sounding songs with a Vince Clarke flavor on top to somewhat harder passages to an instrumental-cinematographic cut. !Distain remains a band that will appeal to lovers of Depeche Mode, Human League and related bands in this genre.

+ + + : “Farewell To The Past” became a rather diversified opus, but still easily recognizable for all lovers of this band. The songs and production both reflect maturity. The arrangements are delicate, creating a truly sensitive approach. It also is a music that will get you happy and I especially refer to the opening song “The Cosmic Revolution” featuring Seyhan, but still a sound that will get you into dance (cf. “Wer Im Kreise Geht”, “Der Hintenmann”, “Targets”). One last noticeable song is the already familiar “SynthPopBoy” for its funny lyrics.

– – – : The album is enjoyable, but is missing ‘real’ hits. That’s a bit what I regret and especially compared to the early years of !Distain. I think some songs are missing some extra catchy touch.

Conclusion: It always is a pleasure discovering new work by !Distain although I must say that the initial magic from the early years is definitely gone. The music becomes sometimes too predictable.

Best songs: “Wer Im Kreise Geht”, “SynthPopBoy”, “Der Hintenmann”, “Targets”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/distainofficial

Label: www.echozone.de / www.facebook.com/EchozoneMusic

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Vince Clarke (Yazoo, Depeche Mode, Erasure, …) has put together a fifty-track download bundle of exclusive digital sounds, each one created by him and some of which you may recognise from his various projects, which he is now making available for free to use in your own electronic music making.

This is the first VeryRecords sound library bundle – containing 50 sounds created by Vince Clarke and Howard Rider – and is available to download for free right now from this page. You will need to sign-in to the download page by using a valid email address.

Note that the site is apparently having difficulties to service the volume of requests although we have been able to download it. The people behind Very Records are working on that now and normal service will be resumed as soon as they can get it all sorted out. If the download is not currently available then check back later!

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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Out later in October, but already available for pre-ordering right here, is the massive Nitzer Ebb vinyl boxset “1982-2010” holding 10 LPs. It’s the first time that all five of the band’s albums for Geffen/Mute have been collected in one complete box set.

The box set features expanded double black vinyl, of each album, with several bonus tracks and rare 12” mixes. The original album artwork comes expanded into gatefold sleeves, with embossing and spot UV finish. The set also contains a large size 28-page booklet with liner notes by Douglas McCarthy and Bon Harris and unseen photos, flyers and artwork, detailing their entire career in chronological order from Essex to Los Angeles.

Note that the box also includes space to insert the band’s first self released album from 1983 and their last release from 2010 as these titles have been in print in recent years. Which is frankly speaking a bit odd if you serve a career spanning boxset.

The box set contains the following albums:

• That Total Age Double Vinyl LP (2018 Remaster) with the bonus tracks “Murderous (Instrumental)”, “Fitness to Purpose (Mix Two)”, “Join In The Chant (Burn! 12” Mix)”, “Let Your Body Learn (12” Mix)”, “Join In The Chant (Metal Mix)”
• Belief Double Vinyl LP (2018 Remaster) with the bonus tracks “Control I’m Here (Command Control Confront Mix)”, “Shame (Mix no 2 William Orbit)”, “K.I.A. (PK Mix)”, “Captivate (William Orbit Mix)”, “Hearts & Minds (Mix Subsonic)”, “Backlash (William Orbit Mix)”
• Showtime Double Vinyl LP (2018 Remaster) with the bonus tracks “Lightning Man (The Industry Vs. The Ebb Remix)”, “Fun To Be Had (Long Mix George Clinton)”, “Getting Closer (The Kitchen Mix)”, “Fun To Be Had (Dust Brothers Master Mix)”, “Lightning Man (RSW Mix)”, “Getting Closer (The Trance Mix)”
• Ebbhead Double Vinyl LP (2018 Remaster) with the bonus tracks “Family Man (Jaz Coleman Mix)”, “Come Alive (Alan Wilder Mix)”, “Lovesick (Flood Mix)”, “Higher (Barry Adamson Mix)”, “Ascend (Vince Clarke Anonymous Mix)”, “I Give To You (Pestilence Mix)”, “Godhead (Remix)”
• Big Hit Double Vinyl LP (2018 Remaster) with the bonus tracks “Friend (Brittle Mix)”, “Beats Me”, “Kick It (Adrian Sherwood Compulsion Edit)”, “Kick It (Popular Music Mix)”, “I Thought (Final Sin)”

The complete boxset is available now for ordering right here.

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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Erasure have released two videos from “World Beyond”, the new album out on March 9 on Mute.

The videos are for “Oh What A World” and “Still It’s Not Over”. The last track tackles the LGBT+ rights movement post-Stonewall and highlights the band’s place within that movement. Both videos were filmed during the recording of “World Beyond”. You can watch “Oh What A World” and “Still It’s Not Over” right below.

“World Beyond” is a collaboration with Echo Collective, the Brussels based collective of post-classical musicians best known for their ongoing collaborative work with A Winged Victory for the Sullen, the late Johann Johannsson, Dustin O’Halloran and Stars of the Lid and sees the entirety of Erasure’s 2017 album, “World Be Gone”, given a post-classical rework.

“World Beyond” was recorded over ten days by Andy Bell and six performers from Echo Collective. Produced by Echo Collective, mixed by Gareth Jones and arranged by Echo Collective’s Gary De Cart, Margaret Hermant and Neil Leiter.

You can watch a short film documenting the recording process here:

The original idea for the album developed from Vince Clarke, who initially suggested that a single from “World Be Gone” could be given an orchestral reinterpretation, but as the idea expanded and took shape, he spoke at length to Echo Collective ahead of the recording.

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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Out on December 21st is a Greek expanded edition of the recent Erasure album “World Be Gone” with 6 exclusive remixes approved by Andy Bell and Vince Clarke. The album comes in a different design to any other format and is limited to 500 copies only.

One of the remixing bands is the Belgian electro sensation Metroland together with other bands. Here are the tracks as selected for the bonus CD titled “Be Careful What You Wish For! Greek Remixed EP”:

1. Be Careful What You Wish For (Lacquer Remix)
2. Be Careful What You Wish For (Paint A Rumour Remix by Marsheaux)
3. Be Careful What You Wish For (Tareq Remix)
4. Be Careful What You Wish For (Eliot’s Circuit Mix)
5. Be Careful What You Wish For (Fotonovela Remix)
6. Be Careful What You Wish For (Metroland’s Mono-Poly Mix)

You can order your copy right here.

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!

side-line.com

2 days after the free EP “50 Shades of Gay” by Junksista to celebrate the international day against homophobia and transphobia, we can present you an interview with yet another LBGT minded duo, namely Erasure.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) I can clearly remember the first time I met Erasure live as it was on my 18th birthday. OK, actually it was a one-sided meeting only because it happened at their Budapest concert in 1992 and I stood among the public with other fans and they were on stage performing live.

I was so impressed of what I saw and heard on that evening that I even wrote a fan-review on it – although I kept it in my drawer. Approx. 10 years later I started freelancing for various music sites – among others for example I was the editor of the Hungarian Mute microsite. I did several articles on Erasure and in March 2005 I finally got the opportunity to meet my heroes in Munich and I interviewed them face-to-face.

I have kept contact with their management/record company and our relationship slowly became amicable. I still help their work silently with my promo articles and it was evident for me that I would get in touch with them again to do another interview on the release of their new album “World Be Gone”. Maybe I have a soft spot for Erasure but “World Be Gone” is really one of their bests – both musically and lyrically. Let`s take a look in the minds of Mr. Vincent Clarke and Mr. Andrew Bell and let them tell us about their past, present and future…

SL: You recently had an important milestone in your career. You celebrated a big anniversary to mark 30 years of being together as a pop-duo. Have you ever thought you`d come this far? Are there any unfulfilled wishes in your life?

V: It would have been impossible to imagine (in the 80’s), that we’d still be around after 30 years. As for ambitions there’s just that elusive ‘perfect pop song’.

A: I didn’t really think about how long we’d last, whether it be 30 or 50 years to be honest I take each day as it comes I was just very honoured to be able to work with Vince Clarke in the first place! I think it is kismet & we were meant to be a song writing partnership. Sometimes I wish we had a bit more recognition within the industry but it’s not absolutely necessary!

SL: Sometimes you’re just ranked as a typical 80s band although your career mainly happened in the 90s and in the `00s – and you`re still present in today`s music business. Do you think radio stations are responsible for that? Do you get enough airplay nowadays? 

V: The radio station ‘business’ is about playing the latest and newest. That’s totally understandable. More airplay would be nice, but that’s not the way of the world.

A: I think pop is mainly for teenagers so you are very lucky if you manage to keep some of those initial fans with you, for me being a gay man seems to keep you forever young so I don’t tend to think about things in a traditional way.

As for the radio etc it’s all up to them & it’s all very corporate & centralised I don’t need to be categorised in any way & take no notice any way!

SL: Do your supporting gigs with Robbie Williams have anything in common with making your music known for a wider public, with the newer “pop-kids”? How did you get to know each other with Robbie? What are your expectations of this tour?

V: We met Robbie once, when Take That first started their careers at a TV show in the UK. This tour is a fantastic opportunity for us to remind people of our music… I’m not sure Robbie’s fans are ‘kids’ anymore?

A: I think Robbie & his wife maybe slight fans, I like him & it’s a good opportunity for us to play to a million people without having to do 75 shows!

SL: There is a new Erasure album coming out on Mute on 19th May 2017. It`s titled “World Be Gone”. The title is not too optimistic but its content is full of hope – except for a few parts. How can you find optimism in the most unlikely circumstances?

V: I believe good and bad comes in waves. I’m a naturally optimistic person. I have to be, especially as I have an 11 year old son.
You have to otherwise you might as well pack it all in.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Erasure (the duo consisting of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) have shared the Adam Turner remix of “Love You To The Sky”, the first single from their brand new album, “World Be Gone”, out May 19th, 2017. The reworking is featured on the forthcoming digital EP, which also includes mixes by Ladytron, Loframes, Matt Pop and the band’s own Vince Clarke. The EP also features a brand new, previously unreleased B-side (“Nothing I Could Say”) and will be available on June 2nd. The Adam Turner remix is available now on all digital platforms.

You can listen to “Love You To The Sky (Adam Turner Remix)” right below.

“World Be Gone”, the band’s seventeenth studio album, is the follow up to “The Violet Flame” (2014), and comes on the heels of the band’s recent 30th anniversary celebrations. World Be Gone, written, performed and produced by Erasure and mixed by Matty Green, will be out on CD, ltd edition orange vinyl, standard black vinyl & cassette and is available to order now. Tickets for their new 2017-tour can be ordered right here.

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!

side-line.com

Andy Bell and Vince Clarke aka Erasure will release their 17th studio album, “World Be Gone”, on 19 May 2017 (and it must be said it holds some great cover artwork). “World Be Gone” is the follow up to 2014’s “The Violet Flame”, and follows the band’s recent 30th anniversary celebrations.

Their new album sees the duo in a more reflective mood. Explains Vince Clarke: “Obviously the current political climate lends itself to lots of ideas.” Andy Bell continues: “I think there’s an under-swell of opinion, and people are slowly waking up. I’m hoping that people will take the album in a positive way, that they’ll use it as optimistic rabble-rousing music.”

The album counts 10 tracks. More extra info soon.

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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Synth-pop, experimental.

Background/Info: Reed Hays and Caroline Schutz is a duo based in New York who met at college. “Buchla And Singing” is their official debut album released on Vince Clarke’s label Very Records. This is a brand-new label on, which Vince Clarke together with Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) released the single “Better Have A Drink To Think” and the album “2Square”.

The title of Reed & Caroline’s album refers to the vocals of Caroline Schutz (‘singing’) and the analogue modular ‘Buchla’ synthesizer used by Reed Hays.

Content: If you like vintage electronics this is for sure an album that will catch your attention. Reed & Caroline deal with good-old electro-pop music carried by typical computer bleeps. It reminds me of good-old Atari sounds from early computer games. This is the kind of music that might appeal to fans of Kraftwerk, and also more contemporary bands like Welle:Erdball and Client. Caroline’s sweet timbre of voice injects an evasive touch to the electronic treatments of her partner.

Next to this more ‘traditional’ electro-pop with a pure retro style the album also reveals a strong experimental side. This part is not exactly into classical electro-pop songs, but reveals a passion for sound creation. It now rather sounds like a demonstration of analogue sound treatments created by the modular synth of the band. The final part of the work brings us back to more song-related pieces and the chemistry between machines and singing.

+ + + : For years I’ve been convinced that authentic analogue machines and synthesizers all have this kind of magic you never will get when using digital- and or software synthesizers. It definitely sounds old-styled, but still so unique and magical. The electro-pop minded songs are showing interesting composing skills resulting in several highlights like “Electrons” and “Singularity (We Bond)” plus a phenomenal remix of “Bright Light” and another one of “Electrons” by Vince Clarke.

– – – : The experimental-minded cuts are for sure interesting, but they clearly reveal an experimental side, which doesn’t totally fit with the pop-inspired songs. It creates a break between promising debut songs and outstanding final tracks.

Conclusion: Reed & Caroline have accomplished a successful debut work revealing 2 sides. I especially want to recommend the electro-pop cuts bringing the good-old 80s spirit back to life. This is a band to keep an eye on!

Best songs: “Bright Light – Bright Light Remix”, “Singularity (We Bond)”, “Electrons”, “John And Rene”, “Electrons – Vince Clarke Remix”.

Rate: (7½). 

Band: www.facebook.com/reedandcaroline

Label: http://veryrecords.com / www.facebook.com/VeryRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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