Friday, October 1, 2010

Medusa by Clan of Xymox

Another slightly more obscure synthpop gem from the mid 80s, by Dutch proto-Goths Clan of Xymox. This is a hauntingly beautiful, ethereal type of synthpop, with very distinctive vocals. While there are obvious parallels to some Depeche Mode and The Cure, especially in terms of tone, Clan of Xymox stood apart, and in a fair world, they'd have had as much recognition as either of those other two.

This is another one that I discovered late, and in fact I discovered them while they were simply Xymox, and going through a phase where they tried to have a bit more mainstream appeal. I really loved the song "Written in the Stars" from their Phoenix album, and was surprised to discover that if anyone had heard of Clan of Xymox at all, they greatly preferred their earlier stuff. Naturally, I had to track it down.

I still like "Written in the Stars" a lot, but I can see their point. "Medusa" is just perfectly crafted dark pop. Back in those days, I don't know if I had any idea what the Goth movement was all about, or even if it was really doing anything. While I saw a handful of folks here and there who looked like goths, we just called them, "that guy who's trying to look like Robert Smith from The Cure." So Clan of Xymox were sufficiently pioneering in their approach to qualify as one of the earliest proto-goth bands, and unlike The Cure, they came at it from a much more synthpopish place.


1 comment:

  1. I LOVE this band. My favorite of all time is "Imagination" ftom the 1989 album "Twist of Shadows." I love the sound in this song and the meaning behind the lyrics are special to me.

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