The subgenre of darkwave has haunted the lower depths of popular music ever since Ian Curtis of Joy Division intoned existential despair in the late 1970s, and Cabaret Voltaire used homemade synthesizers to nag the guitar-laden post-punk scene. In the early 1980s, Manchester, the fount of Joy Division’s guttural angst, and Sheffield, the backdrop to Cabaret Voltaire’s industrial stomp, remained important cities in the British darkwave scene. However, the nascent genre soon went global as artists like Scotland’s Cocteau Twins, Australia’s Dead Can Dance, and the Netherlands’ Clan of Xymox joined the Cure, In the Nursery, and Soft Cell in exploring dark undercurrents in rock, electronic, and neoclassical music.
The groups thus mentioned were only the most commercial progenitors of darkwave. Along with its stylistic variations – coldwave, cabaret noir, ethereal wave, and EBM (Electric Body Music) – darkwave remained largely an underground phenomenon. Many key artists in the scene only released one single or EP before morphing into new projects or disappearing. Others lurked in the commercial backwaters of cassette culture (music released exclusively on audio cassette) and self-promoted DIY initiatives.
A vast network of independent labels supported the darkwave movement. Some, such as Sam Rosenthal’s Projekt Records in the US and Louis Thévanon’s Lively Arts in France, focused their catalogues on dark and ethereal music. Others, including 4AD and Factory in the UK, Nettwerk in Canada, and Play It Again Sam (PIAS) in Belgium, included darkwave artists among diverse rosters.
Variety and diversity are the hallmarks of No Songs Tomorrow: Darkwave, Ethereal Rock and Coldwave 1981-1990, a new four-CD compilation from the UK’s Cherry Red Records. Besides the genres listed in the title, the boxed set encompasses early dream pop, goth, industrial, and electronic dance music. Few artists represented on the compilation fit neatly into prescribed categories. Neither are all of them are especially dark. “Wild World” by Germany’s Days of Sorrow might have become a major pop hit with the right promotion. “Pierrot Lunaire (Malice Pt. 2)” by France’s Cuddly Toys would not be out of place on an upbeat playlist among the likes of the B-52’s and Devo.
Some of the major artists one would expect are represented on the CD version of No Songs Tomorrow – although omitted from the streamed version for legal reasons. “Funeral Party”, from the Cure’s third album Faith, begins Disc One, followed later by “Blood Bitch” from the Cocteau Twins’ classic debut LP, Garlands. “Avatar” from the early work of Dead Can Dance is a lush standout track, as is “Heat” from Soft Cell’s untainted sophomore album, The Art of Falling Apart.
Perhaps the greatest value in No Songs Tomorrow is the set’s recovery of seminal and obscure tracks well deserving of belated recognition. Among the many highlights are the proto-EBM track “Say It Isn’t So” by American group Executive Slacks, the ominous “The Crawler” by Canadian industrial combo Psyche (a forerunner of Skinny Puppy), the brash “Give Me a Name” by all-female Swiss group the Vyllies, and the impossibly catchy “Poupée Méchanique” by French coldwave innovators Die Form.
Although No Songs Tomorrow limits its scope to a single decade, the compilation encompasses the periphery of darkwave in other styles and artists. Joy Division/ New Order member Bernard Sumner produced “Looking from a Hilltop” by Section 25, and his bandmate Peter Hook produced “Discipline” by Royal Family & the Poor. Cabaret Voltaire mentored the title track “No Songs Tomorrow” by fellow Sheffield artists U.V. Pøp. Other artists on the set are offshoots of more famous groups. Tones on Tail features Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins in their guise between Bauhaus and Love and Rockets. Heavenly Bodies contains associate members of 4AD luminaries Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil.
One massive surprise in No Songs Tomorrow is how contemporary much of this music sounds. Enough recent artists – Boy Harsher, M83, MGMT, Twin Tribes, Jane Weaver, etc. – have used vintage electronic instruments and darkwave/synthwave textures to make the past and present sound cohesive. Many artists from the 1980s – Italy’s Neon, Germany’s Mittageisen, and America’s Black Tape for a Blue Girl, to name just three – created timeless blends of dark sensuality and angular synth textures. Others at the harder end of the spectrum, including New York noise artists Requiem in White and Leeds rockers Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, anticipated ethereal textures in heavy music from Deafheaven to Sleep Token.
The physical issue of No Songs Tomorrow: Darkwave, Ethereal Rock and Coldwave 1981-1990 comes in a four-CD set with a detailed booklet. Frank Deserto’s liner notes provide excellent background on darkwave and its related genres. Capsules for each track contextualize each song and artist within the movement. Black and white photographs of select artists typify the fashion sense and cultural atmosphere surrounding 1980s darkwave.
The lack of availability of the complete set via streaming makes the purchase of the CD set essential for diehards seeking the full scope of the compilation. However, the streamed version has enough dark delights to form a concise sampler for casual listeners and playlisters. In any case, most of the omissions from the stream are by famous artists whose work remains readily available. Overall, No Songs Tomorrow provides a definitive overview of music and a scene worthy of revival. The CD set, in particular, belongs in the collection of anyone looking to don black eyeliner and dance – weirdly and slowly – like it’s 1983.