Clan of Xymox

Clan of Xymox

The band Clan of Xymox, also known as Xymox, formed in the Netherlands in 1981. Clan Of Xymox featured a trio of songwriters - Pieter Nooten, Ronny Moorings and Anke [also Anka] Wolbert - and gained success in the 1980s, releasing their first two albums on a prestigious independent UK label, a...

's eponymous debut in 1985, and their first release on the 4AD

4AD

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...

 label (CAD503, CAD503CD, GAD503CD).

The album was produced by Ivo Watts-Russell

Ivo Watts-Russell

Ivo Watts-Russell was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the English indie record label 4AD. He has also produced several records, himself preferring to use the term "musical director" to explain his role in the creation....

 (joint-founder of record label 4AD) and recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh. The remixes included on the album ("A Day" and "Stranger") were mixed and produced by John Fryer

John Fryer (music)

John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he also branched out as a musician as one of only two constant members of This Mortal Coil , providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, The Hope Blister.- Career :Starting out...

 at Blackwing Studios

Blackwing Studios

Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio, most notable for early Depeche Mode and Yazoo recordings in the early 1980s.-Background:The Blackwing Studios complex was housed inside a deconsecrated church in South-East London. All Hallows church was partly destroyed during The Blitz in 1941...

, London.

John Fryer had gained notability for working with seminal bands on the 4AD

4AD

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...

, Mute

Mute Records

Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...

, Rough Trade

Rough Trade (band)

Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...

 and Beggars Banquet

Beggars Banquet

- Personnel :The Rolling Stones* Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, harmonica on "Parachute Woman"* Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man", backing vocals, lead vocals on opening of "Salt of the Earth"* Brian...

 record labels, including Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...

, Fad Gadget

Fad Gadget

Fad Gadget is the stage name of Francis John Tovey , a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both New Wave and early Industrial music....

 and the Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...

.

The album drew comparisons to Joy Division

Joy Division

Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...

 and The Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

 and created a buzz in the clubs as well as inhabited the arthouse scene.
Reviewers in subsequent years have derided the album as dated and derivative, but accurately reflecting of the emerging goth sound of the time, with "icy, throbbing keyboards; bummed-out vocals; chilly, robotic percussion; gloomy, ethereal guitars; and unusual, cryptic song titles".

Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

 in 1985 pronounced the debut 'a nervous and brilliant record' from 'guitar-splayed firefields of Cry In The Wind and Stumble and Fall, and thrill(!) to the system clearing, bass bloodied 7th Time... The range and depth of this mysterious record do not exclude arrogant electro dance anthems like Stranger and A Day ; nor do Xymox avoid sentimentality as on No Human Can Drown '.

In the same year, Sounds Magazine

Sounds (magazine)

Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...

 deemed the album 'a strange and wonderful debut from 4 AD's first signing since Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...

'. Particular favourite is A Day 'which suggests so many places, colours feelings and despairs that it is totally awe inspiring'.

Track listing

Personnel

Xymox

• Ronny Moorings – Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar, Keyboards
• Anka Wolbert – Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboards, Bass
• Pieter Nooten – Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboards

Producers, Engineers

• Ivo Watts-Russell
  Ivo Watts-Russell
  Ivo Watts-Russell was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the English indie record label 4AD. He has also produced several records, himself preferring to use the term "musical director" to explain his role in the creation....
  
   – Producer
• Jon Turner – Engineer
• John Fryer
  John Fryer (music)
  John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he also branched out as a musician as one of only two constant members of This Mortal Coil , providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, The Hope Blister.- Career :Starting out...
  
   – Engineer, Producer (remixes)
• Keith Mitchell – Assistant Engineer

Graphic Design

• Vaughan Oliver
  Vaughan Oliver
  Vaughan Oliver is a British graphic designer based in Epsom, South of London. Oliver is most noted for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23...
  
  – Graphic Design