Tuxedomoon
Desire

THE REVIEW

Without a doubt among the most original groups of the entire new-wave, Tuxedomoon, after the splendid test of their debut album "Half Mute", softened the edges of their avant-garde research a bit, in favor of a less glacial and detached sound.
The cover itself suggests an undefinable warmth, certainly distant from the geometric abstractionism of the first record.
Although Tuxedomoon were from San Francisco, thus carrying a remarkable background, they embodied the essence of Central European decadence. Europe, in fact, has always paid them a notable following, and the group reciprocated the affection by moving to Belgium, where they found a favorable environment. If the Belgian scene owes much to the influence of the American group, it can be said almost equally in reverse, as the Netherlands has always represented a strategic point in Europe regarding the market.

The discussion was precisely about "Desire", released in 1981. It begins with a 15-minute suite divided into 4 parts: in the first, "East", the usual violin resumes the conversation from where it was interrupted, with a granitic and malevolent scratch. Immediately after, an enticing saxophone enters, raising the sensuality rate, while a gloomy bass rumble boils unrelenting in the background.
Thus we enter the fascinating degenerated electronic tango of the second part, "Jinx", a dramatic dance for desperate voices and minor notes, where again the sax and violin dominate, undoubtedly the two instruments behind the "Tuxedomoon Sound". The remaining 5 minutes are nothing more than distant noise and dark avant-garde experiments, using "found" sources and listless dissonances.
This brings us to the next "Victims Of The Dance", a warm piece of electro-pop "their way", full of effects and ghostly countervoices.
The disco frenzy that hammers "Incubus (Blue Suit)" with a cardiac drum-machine beat, takes us to their preferred disorienting territories, with a memorable synth loop, and electronic peaks akin to sirens gone mad.
A capricious bass opens the title track, then continues its murmurings persistently among nocturnal violin phrases and somnambulistic keyboards, above all, the usual alienated voice reciting verses in duet with a sinuous saxophone. The strongly oneiric atmosphere, and the thick layer of sounds chiseled during the arrangement phase, makes "Desire" resemble more a nightmare than a song.
As if this wasn't enough, the following "Again" continues the discourse slowing the tempo, unfolding into a languid ballad, dark and distressing, with a lunar sax consistently in splendid focus.
The ride of "In the Name Of Talent (Italian Western Two)" returns the rhythm to the main role, amidst tribal-electronic contaminations and the usual, irresistible, synthetic melodism.
The curtain falls with the provincial theater gag that opens "Holiday For Plywood". But it's just a joke, Tuxedomoon immediately return "serious", recovering their expressionism in less than a minute, between orchestral concessions from film noir and simmering bass lines.

Where the first album repels with its aseptic and glacial sound, this one, while retaining the gloomy mood that characterizes them, makes the sound of Tuxedomoon fascinating and attractive, thanks to a more present use of saxophone and keyboards and a more conventional rhythm section. Although in an "elitist" manner, "Desire" thus approaches a more classic song form, representing the natural link between the avant-garde of "Half Mute" and the emerging trend of synth-pop.