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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.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Incubus (Blue Suit) (03:50)
Thin man in a powder blue suit with eyes that slice you through
The cut of his clothes was strange indeed (a hundred years too soon).
A passing stranger with no business here, a rest stop on a voyage through time a rest stop.
A passing stranger in a dream we had the man with the patented face the one with the telescope eyes the man who walked away.
Someone handed me a gun, hit the switch and ran.
I laughed and shot at the ceiling I laughed and shot at the walls.
The smell of fusing metal permeates the scene music plays in empty halls music plays in empty halls.
Underneath the street light the stranger calls your name
He flickers to a halt and slowly fades away.
04 Desire (07:06)
DESIRE
You're the buyer or the seller,
makes you want what you can't have,
I'm glad I made you cry,
Makes you go where you can't go,
Makes you want what you can't have,
Desire
Don't think, x4
Don't buy,
Don't think, x3
Buying the moment,
Sometimes I want to die in my bed,
All I can think about is "When are we leaving?",
Everytime I think of you I want a cigarette,
Man chooses himself,
Hero with a thousand faces,
It's the third night and the walls are shaking,
Boys buying boys,
Pleasure bringing pain, it's all the same,
I put my hand near my mouth so I know I'm still breathing,
So we joke about the TV set,
Calling it the "eye of Hell",
I would love to have people see what I see,
I would love to be a pillar of strength in my community,
A little order, a little grace,
Something new to fill up this place,
Live a thousand lives by picture,
Mark, this song is for you,
I'm a lousy lover - I give but never take,
Makes you go where you can't go, makes you want what you can't have,
(repeats)
Live a thousand lives by picture
11 No Tears (05:39)
No tears from the creatures of the night
No tears
My eyes are dry
Goodbye
I feel so hollow i just don't understand
Nothings turned out like i planned
My heads exploding
My mouth is dry
I can't help it if i've forgotten how to cry
No tears from the creatures of the night
No tears
My eyes is dry
Goodbye
My eyes is dry
Goodbye
My eyes is dry
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