- Released: 2020
- Origin: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Label: Trisol
- Best Track:
I’ve never listened to Clan of Xymox before but I suspect I like them. Back in July, the Dutch gothic/new wave outfit released their 16th album in a discography dating back to 1985.
And Spider on the Wall is definitely up my street – the dark and mesmeric synth, the gloomy vocals and the simple, industrial-style drumming. It has, however, had a bit of a “shrinker” (as opposed to a “grower”) effect on me. I loved it on first listen, but on second and third I started to find it a bit pedestrian in parts, not helped by some poor-ish lyrics, although I suppose English isn’t their first language in their defence.
Nonetheless, there are good tracks and I don’t want to be too harsh. I think maybe I just overrated on my first listen and now I’m trying overcompensate. ‘All I Ever Know’, while it may borrow a little from New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’, is a banger, and ‘Black Mirror, whether an homage to Charlie Brooker’s dystopia series or not, is a powerfully bleak piece.
I sense this album may not have been the best introduction to Clan of Xymox, but I’ll still be adding the band to my infinite “must hear more from” list.
366Music 