Description
Label Review.
2020 album. Also available on CD.
Our Overview.
British electronic group John Foxx And The Maths return with a new line-up on their 5th studio album, ‘Howl’. Former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon joins Foxx, Benge (Ben Edwards) and Hannah Peel after previously guesting with The Maths at their debut Roundhouse show in 2010. “For years, I’d wanted to work with Robin Simon again”, says Foxx. “There’s something central about what he does - and I always miss it, no matter who I work with. It’s what Rob can do with a song, and with the sheer power of sound. Give him a song and he’ll give you three takes - all utterly different incarnations”, enthuses Foxx who first worked with Simon on Ultravox’s ‘Systems Of Romance’ album in 1978.
The Maths have created an album of dark, writhing glamour. Opener “My Ghost” sounds like haunted static in a cold wind, the title track is a twisted glam-punk celebration of ‘the outsider’ who leaves the fringes to make himself visible, while Foxx switches to a sinister Ferry-esque croon on “Tarzan And Jane Regained”.”New York Times” is a report back from the city of the 1970s, with Foxx’s vocals gently coaxing out the vulnerability of its street characters and Factory stars, while “Last Time I Saw You” revels in an ice-cool narrative illuminated by neon-lit transformations and flickering revelations - this song is built for streets and strobes. The album ends with “Strange Beauty”, where Foxx sounds like an echo from the 1950s - a voice that is still searching across all these years for something just out of reach.
John Foxx is best known for starting the band Ultravox in the late 1970s and released three albums for Island Records before leaving in 1979 to go solo. His early singles and albums all made the UK charts and showed off his command of synthesizers and modern production techniques. However he quit music in 1985 for a decade to return to graphic design but returned in the late 90s and in the last 20 years has amassed a lengthy discography either solo, in collaboration with Louis Gordon or with The Maths.
Tracklisting: My Ghost / Howl / Everything Is Happening At The Same Time / Tarzan And Jane Regained / The Dance / New York Times / Last Time I Saw You / Strange Beauty