Cherry Red [Release date 17.11.23]

And suddenly it’s the 1980’s and the New Romantics all over again, as Classix Nouveaux reform for the first album in 40 years.

Except that it’s not. The world has mercifully moved on and the reformed band explores the notion that both they and their extant audience have matured.

The result is a well balanced and polished album that cleverly straddles the past and present. It’s a significant point given Classix Nouveaux were a band that enjoyed worldwide success in the 80’s, apart from in the fashion conscious UK.

Musically they still rely on relentless synth beats, electro pop and funk influences and pulsating grooves, helmed by Mik Sweeny’s aching fretless bass.

What’s new is the increased presence of Gary Steadman’s guitar work and B.P.Hurding’s huge drum sound, while Sal Solo’s warm and comforting vocals effortlessly hover over percolating beats and lilting melodies.

The band pursues new musical directions by pushing the balance between traditional and electronic instruments slightly more in favour of the former.

The opening track ‘Prelude/Fix Your Eyes Up’ immediately sends out a statement of intent, as it reinforces the meaning of the band’s name by drawing on the past to reshape the future.

They open with swirl of psychedelia, a potent tabla break pulsing synths and a funky rhythm guitar break, which ushers in a wall of sound to evoke the ghost of Ultravox.

Sal’s opening vocal shifts from the sinewy to the effortless on the kind of aspirational chorus that will surely extend the band’s appeal to both old new fans alike.

The title track ‘Battle Cry’ is a sharply contrasting galloping Celtic stomp, which if denuded from its synth driven sound might even have been a folk song.

There’s a change of direction on the emotive ‘Wretched’, which adds an esoteric vocal collage and an eerie electro vocal plug-in.

There’s also a beautiful realised moment when a groaning synth note melds into Sal’s falsetto. His processed voice sounds not unlike Morrissey in the way it evokes lyrical introspection and vulnerability: “I am wretched, I am hopeless, who will rescue me, I’m wretched I am helpless who will set me free.”

The shimmering guitar tones and layered sound also reminds me of The Blue Nile, which brings me back to the updated version of the band.

The band’s synth driven New Romantic antecedents lend themselves to contemporary electronic beats, updated by a slightly more edgy rock direction, as evidenced by Gary Steadman’s resolving guitar solo on ‘Wretched’.

More significantly they embrace a refreshing broad musical sweep, especially on ‘My Final Symphony’.

There’s a singular Eno style drone and an electro collage which sounds like orchestra tuning up. Then out of nowhere comes a metallic synth beat, a drum break and more feverish beats, which confusingly drop down into a mid tempo ballad.

It takes a while to overcome the dichotomous booming rhythms and more considered vocal parts, but a piercing synth solo, clanking beats and a spiralling guitar solo takes the song home and illuminates the band’s updated style.

They extend their oeuvre into proggy elements on the acoustic driven ‘No Do Overs’, on which Sal sounds like Caravan’s Pye Hastings. There’s also a magical moment when the glossy production cleverly melds his vocal into an oboe solo, while an unexpected big string arrangement helps fatten the melody as well as complementing the vocal.

The intricate production pulls together a myriad set of influences as they broach prog again on ‘Colour Me The Sky’.

Opening acoustically, the song melds muscular rock with electronica, poetic imagery and a big choral finale.

The chorus also has a passing resemblance to the hook of Roger Chapman’s ‘The Drum’ from his 80’s ‘Techno Prisoners’ album.

Long time fans will be drawn to ‘Revelation Song’. It’s topped and tailed by a transatlantic spoken poetic word intro and is glued together by a chunky rhythm section, a coruscating synth riff (think Ultravox again) and electro squalls, as Sal revels in biblical imagery.

The booming sound wraps itself round double tracked vocals before a partial break-down announced by booming tom-toms and some trumpet led orchestration. There’s a belated return to the shrill synth riff and a Steve Hillage sounding guitar led outro.

The slick production cleverly segues into the funky revisits of ‘Never Never Comes’, in which Sal evokes Japan’s David Sylvain.

The newer version sounds much warmer, slightly less frantic and certainly less cluttered, though annoyingly the up-in-the-mix beats replace the original potent synth riff in the hook.

You can almost forgive the band for the resurrected ‘Interlude/Inside Outside’. It’s given a more relaxed arrangement with a greater emphasis on the voice and percussive backing, but it still manages to sound like the most retro track on the album.

No matter, this is an album full of strong songs given their purchase by a subtle production which lets the material breath.

There’s enough lyrical and sonic depth to update and broadened the band’s original template of melodic electronica. They further incorporate a rockier edge which is frequently flanked by eerie backing vocals.

And right at the centre of the musical maelstrom is Sal Solo, a beguiling vocalist whose evocative phrasing and versatile timbre amplifies his songwriting abilities and benefits from a rich production and crisp mix.

In sum, the songs refreshingly look to the future, the melodies draw you in, the guitar parts always serve the song and the electronics provide sparkle.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and this album admirably fills the void by being an eloquent step into the future. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

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LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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