This Mortal Coil – It'll End In Tears

A truly amazing album. But if you were to be a bit of a "corndog" you might focus on the sheer power of "Song To The Siren". This is the kind of song that one might struggle to comprehend that one of your peers might not like / be remotely moved by it. I played it to a very close friend at the end of a long session and she was completely nonplussed by it, and immediately wanted to go back to big room house music. I was shocked, and part of me feels I can never look at her the same way again.

Picking favourite tracks or albums can be difficult, inappropriate or weird. As Colin Newman might say, “I didn’t see the point”. When you pick ‘favourites’ it can be mean or exclusive. I like all three TMC albums, there is no doubt the musicianship and curating are top notch on all of the albums. So in this case, it is not “mean” to state a favourite as it is less a matter of which is better. More, the point of choosing a favourite This Mortal Coil album is telling: about individual taste and how the label’s sound shifted after, say, 1985. This shift in 4AD sound puts the second and third TMC albums distinctly into a different musical territory to the first.

That said, my taste centres around the first TMC album. For me it is a sampler of 4AD at its genesis, treasure-house best. When the music seemed out of this world. Honestly: where did this music come from? It not just one group but around ten, all performing amazing sounds, not like each other, but somehow fitting well with each other. The label started with some rare, idiosyncratic punk bands of interest; quickly coalescing into something else, the phoenix from punk – postpunk. Certain groups started to emerge, Cocteau Twins, Wolfgang Press, Dead Can Dance, Modern English, Colourbox, Clan of Xymox, X-mal Deutschland, Wolfgang Press – other artists hanging around and quickly moving on: The The, Bauhaus, Nick Cave, and the best artist 4AD didn’t latch on to, Gordon Sharp.

The first TMC album showcased gem artists from groups which were so original . . . and this is the main point: so original, they then further inspired and helped shape new genres (whether shoe-gazing, grunge, sampling . . .). No other 80’s label did this so beautifully / pervasively, with such varied artists. And it occurred in 4AD’s nascent 80s.

When the second and third TMC albums came out, I would overwhelmingly hear people say they preferred the latter two and it surprised me (partly why I am writing this), making me think about people’s differing taste etc, and what distinguished the first TMC album from the subsequent two. The first is an esoteric collection of music from stunning performers getting together. Though the second TMC album arrived two years later, closer in time to the first TMC album; the second has much more in common with the third which came out five years later. For the subsequent 2 x albums John Fryers and Ivo, the producers / management of the music must have been determined to achieve a more tightly controlled, and particular / cohesive vision. The 2 x latter TMC albums are more classicized, traditional versions with added violins, more centrally aligned homages to the original sources of the songs (written by such artists as Van Morrison, Eno and again Buckley). Because of this approach the 2 last TMC albums are more mainstream. From all of this, I assume the artists had freer reign in the first album. Also many of the main performing artists from the first TMC didn’t appear on the 2nd and 3rd . . . but I think the control of the sound, the reigning in, is as important an issue.

First album: 3 x tracks by Lisa Gerard, all transcendent, with the trademark DCD attention to strings in Dreams Made Flesh (is it a mandolin?) creating music of breathtaking, pure beauty. Everybody knows Liz Fraser’s contribution with Song to the Siren, but also her rendition of Harper’s Another Day. There’s Gordon Sharp’s Kangaroo and Fond Affections. These three singers, together on one album is an extraordinary combination. There are the musical interludes such as Fyt and Baramundi, giving the album space, room to breathe, then Holocaust (!) and finally Not Me.

I loved Not Me* so much. After the eternal lamenting of the core of the singing on the album, Not Me is such a relief (!). It is a strong song of independence in its own right. Brilliant, fun, peppy post-punk pop from a serious lineage – Colin Newman of Wire, on this occasion sung by Robbie Grey of Modern English. Most of the first TMC album is lovelorn, a deep plea of unrequited love, the problem of ATTACHMENT to mortal life and individual suffering. EXCEPT Not Me – Not Me is the exalting joke of the album, a fool aloof, the antidote. Whether it takes position of the question or the answer, the song is a kind of Buddhist stance. It celebrates detachment from the world. But who wants to be detached from the world? And the response to that question throws us back into this mortal coil. The coiling, paradoxical woe of the album is clear, we wouldn’t have it any other way. If it weren’t so beautiful, universal, relatable, it would be self-obsessively overbearing (“let’s all sit down and cry”). Not Me is a pin to the balloon. “It may be as well that, I didn't see the point, You didn't touch me, You didn't touch me, You didn't touch me ad infinitum . . . “ And then Holocaust. Back and forth, coiling ad infinitum.

Altogether the first TMC album is a rare gem, unlike any other album; there is a strong FINALITY in its (questioning?) statement. Importantly, it is also unlike its TMCII TMCIII successors. It doesn’t need to be a double album. It represents a unique collection of music from genius musicians, at a special moment in time, a collection which cannot be repeated, serving a grand testament of some of the best inspirational music of that decade.

* A favourite track of mine, I searched for the original of Not Me for years, I think it is hard to find because it wasn’t properly released (?). It finally appears, as demos, on Colin Newman’s “A-Z”, the double CD edition, and having waited all that time for it you get it twice! The Riverside demo is of high quality and fantastic to listen to. The choice of Not Me is critical to the first TMC album, it’s like the addition of pepper to a stew. Bad metaphor, but you know what I mean.

Excellent album, a masterpiece. My favorites are Fyt, Waves Become Wings, The Last Ray, Barrumundi... although I enjoy them all... but, I admit to being a huge Lisa Gerrard fan. Not to take anything away from Elizabeth Fraser who's voice is also quite wonderful. I of course have been a long-time fan of Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance as well. It'll End In Tears is a very emotion-laden ride to say the least. And the album art, ethereal. The disc, cassette, LP... looks quite nice among my collection.

I reckon there hasn't been a month gone by that I haven't listened to this album.. and I bought it the week it was released back in the mid 80's.! If there was a 'Desert Island Discs' for albums this would be the one I saved... amazing album.

How can I distiguish the UK version from the Italy version --- both are CAD 411?

This album is boring as hell. I listened again this shit for more than 10 times on LP, and is bad, verry verrrrry bad , maybe the worst album of the 80's.

Just picked up the vinyl remaster edition today and am listening to it now. The vinyl is super quiet and not a pop or click on side one. Side two has a few minor, but that could be static electricity (It IS winter!). The mastering sounds good. Vocals are less shrill and a bit earthier than the original UK CD. Overall, less highs and more mids gives it a slightly warmer sound. Instrumentals have a tighter sound and seems less gauzy, which may not be entirely a good thing given the subject matter. I am able to pick out a few instruments I never noticed before.

A classic timeless piece of a record.. .. .. .