Siouxsie Sioux - MantaRay
By all accounts the first ever solo album from erstwhile Banshee and 80s icon Siouxsie Sioux should have been a cringe-worthy affair. At first AU was expecting to hear the sonic equivalent of your granny singing Patsy Cline songs after one too many Special Brews but thankfully, we couldn’t have been more wrong. ‘Mantarey’ is a thrillingly fresh sounding record that shows Siouxsie as a songwriter of real class. While the album has a thoroughly modern edge, there are more than a few nods to her glam punk past (particularly on the T-Rex-inspired ‘They Follow You’) to keep the acolytes appeased. Siouxsie’s voice is still as powerful as ever and if anything, it has improved with age. Anyone expecting the singer to mellow out however will be disappointed, as over the course of ten tracks she seems hell-bent on showing us that she’s growing old disgracefully. On the whole, ‘Mantarey’ is a near-perfect album brimming with wit, drama and soul. It’s also a stunning and spell-binding return to form that should see Siouxsie earn the respect she deserves. Her debut solo album might have been a long time coming but it was definitely worth the wait.
Words_Edwin McFee
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DOWNLOAD: ‘They Follow You,’ ‘Here Comes the Day,’ ‘Loveless.’
FOR FANS OF: The Glove, PJ Harvey, Bat For Lashes
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