While he may not have enjoyed quite the same level of commercial success as his contemporaries Gary Numan, Soft Cell and The Human League, JOHN FOXX more than deserves to take his place at the top table of Electro-Pop pioneers.
Much of Foxx’s reputation rests on the icy, minimalistic brilliance of his 1980 solo debut ‘Metamatic’, although his pioneering approach was already very much in evidence on his final album with Ultravox (1978’s ‘Systems of Romance’) and his subsequent career has yielded plenty for long-term fans to remain inordinately proud of.
Over the past two decades, much of Foxx’s work has explored the highly visual aspect of his art and the last official release of his to cross W&H’s path was the intriguing, Eno-ish ‘DNA’ CD/ DVD project. However, Foxx has never entirely dismissed his pop aspirations either. His 2003 collaboration ‘Crash & Burn’ with Louis Gordon may have slipped underneath the commercial radar, but it showed his quality control was as strong as ever while his new album ‘Interplay’ arguably betters it again.
Group name ‘The Maths’ suggests Foxx has put together a new ensemble, but it’s actually a collaborative effort between the great man and Ben Edwards (aka Benge). The songs comprising ‘Interplay’ were put together at Benge’s studio where there’s a 1960s Moog system built in. Thus, the album has a vintage analogue vibe and it will delight anyone who dug the sound of Foxx’s classic ‘Metamatic’ album.
Last year’s dramatic single ‘Destination’ served notice that something special was percolating and so it proves now the album is finally here. In fact, the great news is that – like ‘Metamatic’ – ‘Interplay’ houses a clutch of would-be classic singles. Of these, ‘The Running Man’ shares a sense of impending violence with the great ‘Burning Car’ (“I am the link in a neon chain from the New York Times to the desert rain”), while the glossy and glamorous ‘Catwalk’ finds a decadent Foxx purring “she can pass through the eye of a needle, she’s so vain” before sliding in a sneaky reference to Ultravox’s classic song ‘Wrock Rock.’ The voyeuristic and supremely atmospheric ‘Watching a Building on Fire’, meanwhile, features Miya Aroyo from Ladytron. They’re a band who has built up a pretty hefty debt to Mr. Foxx along the way and they go some way to paying it back here.
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Happily, though, weak links are undetectable throughout. The scene is set brilliantly by the moody and claustrophobic ‘Shatterproof’, while Foxx’s wonderfully detached vocal (a little along the lines of the equally unsung Howard Devoto) is afforded the perfect setting on the disconnected title track. The least obviously ‘pop’ track is probably the gentle, Kraftwerkian throb of the closing ‘The Good Shadow’, although its’ textural pulsing gradually burrows into your synapses.
This one’s had a lengthy incubation, but as the cliché goes, you can’t rush genius. In the current synth-friendly climate, ‘Interplay’ sounds timely, but more importantly it sounds as timeless as the best of John Foxx’s catalogue. It’s all the proof you need that this fantastic Mr. Foxx remains a creative force to be reckoned with.
John Foxx Metamatic website
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