Etrangers Musique | DL | 2020

Steven Jones + Logan Sky: Sons Of Hallucination – DL single [2020]

1. Sons Of Hallucination 4:59
2. The Shape Of Darkness 2:23
3. Another Hallucination 6:39

L-R: Logan Sky + Steven Jones ©2020 Marlie Centawer

Today Steven Jones + Logan Sky offer us a taster of their next album, “European Lovers,” in the works for the dark months of 2021. We have a tidy, three-track DL single of their latest electronic excursions right now; abetted by a well known guest musician who’s another Visage alumnus coming into the mix as “Sons Of Hallucination” prepares to greet the world.

Crystalline synths and cinematic old world melodies lurk in the shifting shadows of the as a woman speaking French in the intro to “Sons Of Hallucination” prepares our senses for the poised elegance of this music entering into a most inelegant world. The juxtaposition is delicious and ironic. Vocalist Steven Jones primarily sang here with his dignified vibrato dominating the proceedings, but his patented voice over mode [the essence of the Jones + Sky project] managed to create a call and response to the French woman, returning in the song’s coda.

New wrinkles in the Jones and Sky fabric this time were courtesy of the tenor sax of sessionmeister [and Visage contributor] Gary Barnacle. His lilting arcs of sax here were an elegant, dryly autumnal match for the European intrigue that the never silkier synths of Logan Sky contributed to the vibe. If the DL single featured a five minute edit, I can’t wait to hear the full album cut next year.

The next song opened provocatively with the voice of Mr. Jones asking:

“Are you an addict
to the opium of fear?” – The Shape Of Darkness

while the minimal synth bed offered a pared-down setting for the rest of the lyrics to retain the spotlight, while Jones’ atmospheric BVs soared above it all quite beautifully. The brief track was a letter perfect B-Side to accompany the previous track. In the 80s, this DL would have been a 12″ single and what’s a good 12″ single without a remix of the A-side? “Another Hallucination” was a punchier remix with a new voice over vocal by Mr. Jones competing with the now more rhythmic music bed featuring dissonant injections of ambience acting as counterpoint to the electrodrums.  When the sax of Mr. Barnacle returned just as it all looked likely to fragment and spin into chaos, it turned a neat trick of becoming itself again by the time of the song’s coda. But don’t just take my word for it.

This single is currently in the pair’s Bandcamp store with CD-res Bandcamp DLs [gotta love ’em…] for the pittance of £2.00/$2.60. I swore that I recalled earlier hearing that the guitar [and Ebow] of Jan Linton was once again figuring on the duo’s next album, and this latest single showed that Gary Barnacle was also in evidence; adding yet another color to the palette of Jones + Sky. They’ve come a long way from their synthpop origins and it’s been rewarding to hear them changing and growing in complexity over the years. If you’d care to join the fun, then press that button below.

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