Day 121: Clan of Xymox – Medusa

I need a bit of a palate cleanser after Insane Clown Posse, but herein lies my problem: I’m lacking focus. I’ve been trying to watch films recently and I can’t even do that, I watch 15 minutes and then I feel like I need a lie-down. I’m choosing to blame the end of the year and deluding myself into thinking that a new year new me fantasy mode kicks in in exactly two days, after which I’ll feel a bit less inclined to just be horizontal and consume garbage.

I wanted something that’s intricate but not too intricate, interesting enough to keep me engaged but not so interesting that I’ll be lured into writing a 2000-word essay about it. I think I have just the right thing. Pretty much the only thing I can muster the energy to focus on right now is reading gothic novels, so I thought I’d go for a goth classic record: Medusa by Clan of Xymox.

Clan of Xymox are a pioneering Dutch darkwave group who have been active since 1981. Originally, they started off performing as a duo called Xymox, with guitarist and singer Ronny Moorings and singer and bassist Anka Wolbert. They’d met in a bar when he saw her across the room and thought she looked out of place, just like him. He asked her if she wanted to join his band that at the time consisted of only him, and she said she’d learn how to play bass. More people joined their group, so they called it Clan of Xymox.

Released in 1986, Medusa is viewed as Clan of Xymox at their peak, and it’s easy to see why. The record is moody and melancholic but very beautiful, with piercing drums and haunting vocals. I love some of the more spooky film soundtrack-sounding instrumentals, like the opening track “Theme I”, but the real high points of the record for me are “Michelle” and “Louise”, as well as “Masquerade”, which was the first song Anka Wolbert had written by herself.

Here’s the thing that I love about darkwave or goth or other bands of this ilk: they know how to build atmosphere. There’s a very cinematic and dramatic element to the music which builds an feeling of pressure around it, but in a way that feels fun to experience. I feel a little bit perturbed from listening to Medusa, just the way I like it. It’s right on the cusp of a 9, but I’m giving it an 8.5/10.