Her death earlier this year was a real tragedy, especially as it seemed as if her legacy was only due to grow. Anita Lane, founding member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, died in April and while her work with Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, and The Birthday Party was what generated the most ink, her solo work was just as good. Sex O'Clock, Lane''s 2001 offering, is out again in a remastered vinyl and CD version via Mute tomorrow.
This music has never sounded better is what needs to be said first. More direct than her earlier solo recordings, this record soothes as much as it hypnotizes. Recorded with Mick Harvey, the whole album has a sheen that's glossy, with an emotive, dark undercurrent than renders the whole thing simply compelling. Opening with a Gil Scott-Heron cover ("Home is Where The Hatred Is"), Sex O'Clock continues to chart a course of personal obession, and sexual power. "The Next Man That I See" is breathy and seductive, as is "A Light Possession", a jazz-shaped bit of business, but "I Love You, I Am No More" is even better. This one, like other tracks here, marries a string refrain worthy of a Barry White record with Lane's haunted delivery. The overall effect is elegantly hypnotic, and wholly sublime.
Fueled by tape loops of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds improvisations, drums by Bad Seed Thomas Wylder on select tracks, strings by Bertrand Burgalat, and production by Mick Harvey, Sex O'Clock remains a perfect showcase for the late singer. Anita Lane was always a unique proposition, but she managed to never stray too far from material that suited her perfectly. Sex O'Clock is then her triumph. An intellectual's approximation of lusty soul, the arch and clever arrangements here strike a nerve thanks to Anita's vocals, and a listener still remains perpetually seduced by this stuff.
Sex O'Clock is out tomorrow via Mute.
[Photo: Mute Records]