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Last updated 20.03.98

NEW RECOIL >FOR YOU<

Official info about new album and new singles: first ("Drifting") & second ("Stalker")

MUTE PRESS RELEASE ON ALAN WILDER'S NEW ALBUM "Unsound Methods"

"Ultimately, everything I do tends to have a dark, menace about it," says Alan Wilder. "It has to have substance and atmosphere, to be able to send a shiver up my spine. Otherwise I'm just not interested."

Alan Wilder

Welcome to Recoil, where the dark recesses of Alan Wilder's mind get music's equivalent of cinemascope treatment. During the nine haunting and sultry tracks that comprise 'Unsound Methods', we are taken to the edge of unease, through dark, dub infected landscapes, reverberating with shivering piano, seductive strings and a deep electronic pulse.

Guest vocalists Siobhan Lynch, Maggie Estep, Douglas McCarthy and Hildia Cambell conspire with the former Depeche Mode man to forage through a jungle of imagery invoking fear, paranoia, longing and lust in equal measures. "There's an underlying strangeness to it all," Wilder agrees. "If there is a theme, it's something to do with psychological damage." Never had a record so apt a title.

'Unsound Methods' is the first fully fledged Recoil LP to which Wilder has been able to devote all his creative energies since leaving Depeche Mode in 1995. Assembling the unnerving scores in his home studio, he gradually pieced together the music and ideas for every track before drawing each collaborator into his net of intrigue. "Most of the tracks emerge in this way, with a loose concept which I will offer to the various singers that they can then elaborate on. Rather than starting with a completely blank piece of paper, they're being asked to write something that evokes a particular feeling, without imposing any more than that. I think that everyone I work with likes having that framework."

Douglas McCarthy

Douglas McCarthy, the former Nitzer Ebb singer, opens the album with 'Incubus', whose mood was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's film 'Apocalypse Now', and includes a few lines of dialogue from it. "The uncanny thing is that Doug naturally sounds exactly like Martin Sheen" grins Wilder. McCarthy goes on to further his Mr Hyde act in the self-explanatory 'Stalker'. "That's Doug wearing his dirty raincoat."

Maggie Estep, who performs on 'Luscious Apparatus' and 'Control Freak', is a spoken word artist from New York. "Actually, I'd been searching for a rapper who was a bit different. Then the idea of Maggie came up," he explains, "she was just what I was looking for, her words are quite edgy and unconventional and as it turned out, her style was much more suitable than a rapper anyway."

Siobhan Lynch

Siobhan Lynch came to Recoil on the strength of a demo. "Her material was very stark, just an acoustic guitar and vocal, which I found really refreshing. You could hear every nuance of her voice, all the emotion," reflects Wilder. "I was looking fr someone who'd be equally different to Doug and Maggie. Siobhan's tracks are more ambiguous than theirs. The subjects are a bit looser." She sings on 'Missing Piece' and the forthcoming single 'Drifting' which has more of an indeterminate theme. "I felt it could be about somebody who's slightly lost and lonely and I just asked Siobhan to write what she thought."

Completing the Recoil guest-list is Hildia Cambell, who provides the cold, cold blues on 'Red River Cargo' as well as the sensuous 'Last Breath'. Wilder has worked with her before during his time in Depeche Mode. "Hildia is one of the gospel singers who sang on the 'Songs of Faith and Devotion' LP and tour. She required a different approach because I really wanted her to reproduce ideas I already had. I didn't ask her to write her own lyrics as such." Both these tracks feature extracts from old gospel and blues songs.

Along with the tripnotic instrumental 'Shunt' that completes the LP and alternative remix contributions from Flood (Depeche Mode and U2), U.N.K.L.E., Barry Adamson and Panasonic, 'Unsound Methods' makes for a diverse and eclectic collection.

Working in this unique way has afforded Wilder far greater freedom of expression and creativity. This has obviously inspired him. He sees the possibilities now as endless. "This LP has clearly moved on from anything I've done before," Wilder considers, "and it's significantly different to any previous Recoil release. I think it's a perfect situation for me, being able to work with lots of different people. It's a project that really could go anywhere and be anything and I like the fact that it just keeps evolving and changing all the time. Recoil is no longer a side-line."

In the meantime, 'Unsound Methods' makes a startlingly original introduction to Recoil's heart of darkness.

MUTE PRESS RELEASE ON ALAN WILDER'S FIRST NEW "Drifting"

Recoil, the brainchild of former Depeche Mode man Alan Wilder, release a new single on Mute on October 13. Entitled 'Drifting', the single will appear on CD and 12-inch formats. A marked detour from the dramatic pop that Wilder helped fashion in his Depeche days, Recoil inhabits a cinemascopic domain taking us to the edge of unease, through dark, dub infected landscapes, reverberating with shivering piano and a deep, electronic pulse.

'Drifting' will appear with the following track listing:

'Drifting' combines a haunting and hypnotic groove with the desolate and vulnerable vocals of Siobhan Lynch, who came to Recoil on the strength of a demo tape. Says Alan Wilder: "Her demo was very stark, just an acoustic guitar and her vocal. You could hear every nuance of her voice, all the emotion."

Meanwhile, 'Control Freak' is given a frenetic reworking by Barry Adamson while Panasonic take the nightmare soundtrack of 'Shunt' into a parallel dimension. Wilder's own 'Poison Dub' boasts additional vocals from former Nitzer Ebb frontman Douglas McCarthy.

All tracks are taken from the forthcoming Recoil LP 'Unsound Methods', which will be released by Mute on October 27. As well as Siobhan Lynch and Douglas McCarthy, the album features New York-based spoken word artist Maggie Estep and gospel singer Hildia Cambell. "If there is a theme to the entire record," says Wilder, "it's one of psychological damage."

And again - Prepare to enter Recoil's heart of darkness.

MUTE PRESS RELEASE ON ALAN WILDER'S SECOND NEW SINGLE "Stalker"

Recoil, the brainchild of former Depeche Mode man Alan Wilder will release a second single from the album Unsound Methods on Mute on March 9th.

The single will feature new versions of "Stalker" and "Missing Piece" remixed by Wilder and PK and will appear on CD format with the following track listing:

'Stalker - Punished Mix', which features the unmistakable voice of Douglas McCarthy, is given an energetic overhaul and includes additional vocals from New York spoken word artist Maggie Estep. Says Alan Wilder: "Maggie brings an unexpected twist to this story of frustrated obsession".

'Missing Piece - Night Dissolves' also benefits from a stark cinematic treatment and reintroduces Siobhan Lynch who appeared on the first single release Drifting. Together with Red River Cargo, which exposes the cool blues voice of Hildia Cambell, this mini soundtrack provides another unnerving glimpse inside the shadowy world that is Recoil............

Alan Wilder

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