Clan of Xymox (album)

Clan of Xymox is the debut studio album by Dutch dark wave band Clan of Xymox, released 1 July 1985 by 4AD.[1]

Clan of Xymox
Studio album by Clan of Xymox
Released	1 July 1985
Recorded	Palladium Studios, Edinburgh
Genre	Post-punk gothic rock dark wave
Length	62:02 (with bonus tracks)
Label	4AD
Producer	Clan of Xymox and Ivo Watts-Russell
Clan of Xymox chronology
Subsequent Pleasures (1983) Clan of Xymox (1985) Medusa (1986)
Singles from Clan of Xymox
"A Day" / "Stranger" Released: May 1985

The album was produced by 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell and recorded at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh. The remixes included on the album ("A Day" and "Stranger") were mixed and produced by John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Fryer had gained notability for working with seminal bands on the 4AD, Mute, Rough Trade and Beggars Banquet record labels, including Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and Cocteau Twins.

The album drew comparisons to Joy Division and the Cure and created a buzz in clubs.[2] Reviewers in subsequent years have derided the album as dated and derivative, but accurately reflecting 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".[3]

In 1985, Melody Maker described it as "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'".[4]

In the same year, Sounds called the album "a strange and wonderful debut from 4AD's first signing since Dead Can Dance. Particular favourite is 'A Day' which suggests so many places, colours feelings and despairs that it is totally awe inspiring".[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ronny Moorings, Pieter Nooten and Anka Wolbert.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Day"	6:40
2.	"No Words"	4:26
3.	"Stumble and Fall"	5:05
4.	"Cry in the Wind"	5:16
5.	"Stranger"	7:41
6.	"Equal Ways"	5:44
7.	"7th Time"	4:38
8.	"No Human Can Drown"	3:22

CD reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
9.	"Muscoviet Musquito"	4:03
10.	"Stranger (Remix)"	5:21
11.	"A Day (Remix)"	9:11
Total length:		62:02

Personnel

Xymox

• Ronny Moorings – vocals, lyrics, guitar, keyboards
• Anka Wolbert – vocals, lyrics, keyboards, bass guitar
• Pieter Nooten – vocals, lyrics, keyboards

Producers, engineers

• Ivo Watts-Russell – producer
• Jon Turner – engineer
• John Fryer – engineer (producer on remixes)
• Keith Mitchell – assistant engineer

Graphic design

• Vaughan Oliver – graphic design

References

1. Clan of Xymox. 4AD. 23 March 1999
2. "Clan of Xymox". 4AD. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
3. Clan of Xymox at AllMusic
4. Roberts, Chris (August 1985). "Clan of Xymox". Melody Maker.
5. Homer, Jon (1985). "Debut, Clan of Xymox". Sounds.