In the late 1980s, Urbana-Champaign trio Area crafted glistening goth-tinged pop for legendary label Projekt; in retrospect, the work of vocalist Lynn Canfield and multi-instrumentalists Henry Frayne and Steve Jones seems like an obvious precursor to contemporary dream pop and shoegaze. (The members of Area have also performed in the Moon Seven Times and the Arms of Someone New, among other groups.) Formed in 1986 in Champaign-Urbana, IL, Area was an enigmatic dream pop trio quickly hailed as the Midwest’s answer to England’s 4AD Records. On their second release and first vinyl LP, they merged the seductive, breathy voice and lyrics of Lynn Canfield with the radiant guitar and delicate synth inventions of Henry Frayne and Steve Jones. Finding their musical footing on RADIO CAROLINE, Area explored gentle spirals of emotive, fragile moods at once sad and beautiful. “They're almost all very personal lyrics,” noted Lynn Canfield in a 1987 interview with Italy’s Night Circle fanzine. “I'm talking about facts that happen to me on a daily basis, but it's never planned, it's not a conscious thing. The surest — and for me the only — way to write is to write what is definitely in you." Ranging from the straight-ahead rock of "Sweet Revenge" to the wistfulness and wintery "After the End" and “Crystal,” the variety of styles fits nicely with the late-80s music of the Cocteau Twins, Cowboy Junkies, Lanterna, Low, and Durutti Column.
Lynn reflects on the album & era:
Winding up to summer of 2023, Steve and Henry and I are in touch more often, removing thistle from a prairie and hanging out in coffee shops. It's exactly like 1987 and nothing like it. It's been fun to anticipate the release of Radio Caroline, to reminisce and threaten each other with new songs. Then when I saw where "Head Above Water" landed in Cruel Summer, I was shocked to learn my lyrics weren't opaque at all: those kids are at a party negotiating some serious tension, just like my pals and I had been doing in the red room. In other good news 35 years later, the folks in that song are among my best friends; we fell apart for a second but came back together for some major life changes and never fell apart again. Listening to Area takes me straight into the scenes behind the words and then into what unfolded from there, and it can be weird to realize them coming true. How would a person even know it if they'd been time-traveling?
Ripped to MP3
Jones, currently a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, has recently remastered the band’s standout second album, 1987’s Radio Caroline, and added a clutch of new bonus tracks. Originally recorded on four-track and eight-track tape largely in home settings, Jones' 2023 remaster not only cleans up the sound but also reveals nuances not heard on the original release.
The album will be available as a name-your-price download on Projekt’s Bandcamp. Thanks to a recent placement of the albums track “Head Above Water” on the Hulu show Cruel Summer.
That reminds me, coffee. So much music and it is beautiful!
ReplyDelete1987 was golden with Cash On Delivery import records, once had to borrow some change from a neighbor to pay for a Cure picture disc.
Hot finds searching through spindles-Maximum Joy, Retarded (Goes Louder), prototype doom from 1972 Salem Mass, several Brian Setzer concerts.
So dreamy and listenable, excellent
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