Black Box Recorder – England Made Me

The album cover is a photograph of 1970’s glam-wrestler Adrian Street, posing in a very real coal mine, next to his very real coal miner father. It’s the breakdown of traditional values mixed with absolute defiance. It’s also the startling debut album of Black Box Recorder, created by Luke Haines (of The Auteurs) and John Moore (formerly drummer with The Jesus and Mary Chain).

Themes of decay, resignation and despair, which run through the album, somehow become tales of triumph, thanks to the restrained vocals of Sarah Nixey. The confidence in which she sings “Life is unfair. Kill yourself or get over it” in “Child Psychology” makes a dour sentiment sound uplifting.

A simple cover of “Seasons in the Sun” offers a new perspective: “Goodbye papa, please pray for me, I was the black sheep of the family,” when sung by Nixey, becomes a plea for forgiveness for something darker.

It’s not just her vocals that make this album work. It’s also the brutal economy of instrumentation. There is no mere strumming of guitar chords. Every note you hear on the album is deliberate. The space between sounds creates a chilling atmosphere, making the music sound that much more brittle and fragile. As if beneath the sheer defiance, lies a heart that is still easily broken.

R.I.Y.L. Portishead, Julee Cruise, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton

Black Box Recorder – England Made Me

Useless Fact: Their far inferior second album produced their only radio hit, Facts of Life, which climbed up the U.K. charts to a dizzying #37.