Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Thanks to their links with the celebrated 4AD label, goth-edged new wave outfit Clan of Xymox were one of the only Dutch bands to record a session for John Peel's influential Radio 1 show. That session took place in 1985, following the release of their cult debut LP, and saw them perform a mixture of familiar favourites and then brand-new cuts. Here that session makes it onto vinyl for the first-time courtesy of Dark Entries (it was previously released on CD by BBC offshoot Strange Fruit in the early 2000s). It offers a neat introduction to the band's distinctive, trademark sound, with highlights including a stellar version of new wave club classic 'Stranger', the more Goth-rock influenced shimmer of 'Seventh Time', the rubbery, drum machine -driven brilliance of 'Agonised By Love' and atmospheric closing cut 'Mesmerised'.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


Thanks to their links with the celebrated 4AD label, goth-edged new wave outfit Clan of Xymox were one of the only Dutch bands to record a session for John Peel's influential Radio 1 show. That session took place in 1985, following the release of their cult debut LP, and saw them perform a mixture of familiar favourites and then brand-new cuts. Here that session makes it onto vinyl for the first-time courtesy of Dark Entries (it was previously released on CD by BBC offshoot Strange Fruit in the early 2000s). It offers a neat introduction to the band's distinctive, trademark sound, with highlights including a stellar version of new wave club classic 'Stranger', the more Goth-rock influenced shimmer of 'Seventh Time', the rubbery, drum machine -driven brilliance of 'Agonised By Love' and atmospheric closing cut 'Mesmerised'.

Review: 40 years have now passed since the formation of Xymox, the band that morphed into Clan of Xymox two years later. During the 1980s, they were pioneers of what would now be known as 'darkwave' and have continued to offer up albums in this style - with a dash of goth-rock thrown in at times - periodically ever since. 'Spider On The Wall' was first released in 2020 and here gets a much-needed reissue on blue and yellow splattered vinyl. It's a fine set that sounds like it could have been recorded in the band's mid-80s heyday, with highlights including the post-Joy Division New Order flex of 'She', the Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode strut of 'Into The Ever Known', the throbbing, EBM-influenced dancefloor goodness of 'All I Ever Know' and the pleasingly doom-laden darkness of 'When We Were Young'.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record sleeve damaged, product in working order***


Clan of Xymox are one of those bands that represent what is so fantastic about music - passionate players who have focused on honing their craft, and exploring variants on the original blueprint while embracing new ideas, for over 40 years now. The Amsterdam group arrived amid a rising tide of synth wave and, for many, represent the original vanguard of darkwave, helping push a sound early which would later be adopted by some huge names (The Cure, Gary Numan, to name but two).

We find them now four decades deep, then, and still packing fresh thoughts and a hunger to experiment and explore. A masterpiece of goth synth rock, packed with an atmosphere befitting the year in which it was born (2021), Limbo is the ultimate soundtrack to a dystopian future that has long-since become the present, an age when hope is not dead, but shares its bed with despair.

Review: Clan of Xymox are one of those bands that represent what is so fantastic about music - passionate players who have focused on honing their craft, and exploring variants on the original blueprint while embracing new ideas, for over 40 years now. The Amsterdam group arrived amid a rising tide of synth wave and, for many, represent the original vanguard of darkwave, helping push a sound early which would later be adopted by some huge names (The Cure, Gary Numan, to name but two).

We find them now four decades deep, then, and still packing fresh thoughts and a hunger to experiment and explore. A masterpiece of goth synth rock, packed with an atmosphere befitting the year in which it was born (2021), Limbo is the ultimate soundtrack to a dystopian future that has long-since become the present, an age when hope is not dead, but shares its bed with despair.