After a missed Saturday post for this series because… well… while I heard music I liked with the focus I had, I haven’t heard anything that really grabbed me. Yesterday’s post with the Mission as a focus was an attempt to try to get back on track with the nominal excuse that I was inspired in ways by their music and (largely) deeper cuts.
As I feared, the synthwave/darkwave/coldwave/postpunk exploration did quickly become very “samey” as I listened. There were decent bands, but few that I didn’t already know that really captured my attention. And there were even fewer that didn’t employ English as their language of choice. So, I decided to course correct and go into this labyrinth based more on whim than on algorithmic curation.
Peripherally related to the Mission is a “supergroup” of old school musicians with the same subcultural roots. Peers of the band from several 80s-era bands decided to get together and record, mostly for fun, calling themselves The Eden House. Organized by Stephen Carey (of This Burning Effigy and Adoration), he is joined by names such as Tony Pettitt (Fields of the Nephilim), Monica Richards (Faith and Muse), Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Simon Hinkler (The Mission) and…. the list goes on, depending on the song and album. In many ways, it emulates This Mortal Coil in terms of being a collective of musicians, rather than a fixed band.
I chose Neversea for this post because it ties in well with the Mission in that Simon Hinkler, the lead guitarist in the early Mission days, plays guitar on this track. You can definitely hear his “sound”, as some of the riffs feel very close to those used from Tower of Strength — it is his lead guitar style that was part of what I liked about the Mission’s sound and probably explains why I started losing my interest in the band after he left under acrimonious circumstances (I marshaled on for a few albums, but the sound was never the same after he left and got, well… silly at times).
Valenteen is the singer for this song. I can’t place who she reminds me of, but her sound is familiar all the same.
While their overall sound is rooted in that 80s goth/post-goth sound, The Eden House have borrowed from the lush sounds of shoegaze to get a really “big” sound without the sometimes “mumbly” vocals of bands from that era that can be so cryptic as to be another language entirely — sorry, Cocteaus… but I can’t understand a word at times. Love you!
I also encourage you to check out Misery, which also features Simon on guitar, but with a change in vocalist to Louise Crane, who has connections to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame. I promise… As tempting as it is to go towards Jethro after this post, I am looking for “new to me” music, not to revisit old music I like. So, a new seed, with manual discovery by replacing Kælan Mikla and starting new with The Eden House.
As always, your comments are welcome below.
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