This Mortal Coil was the given name of a strictly-studio project that spawned three albums, conceived and produced by one-time 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell.
Over the span of eight years he, along with Blackwing Studios house engineer/ co-producer, John Fryer, and a rotating cast of musicians, created original works, musical links and reinterpretations of impeccably curated songs; introducing a new audience to the talents of a previous generation including Big Star, Tim Buckley, Roy Harper, Spirit, Gene Clark, Dino Valenti, Rain Parade, Emmylou Harris, Syd Barrett and Colin Newman, amongst others.
The new deluxe vinyl versions differ from the original releases with each album having had its artwork reimagined by Ivo Watts-Russell and Vaughan Oliver (4AD’s long-time visual partner). All three are now presented in beautiful, hand finished and high-gloss gatefold sleeves, using remastered audio made from the original analogue studio tapes by the late, great John Dent.
The deluxe CD editions are being manufactured by the Ichikudo company in Japan, coming packaged in striking gatefold paper sleeves which are printed to the highest standard. Originally made available as part of a highly limited boxset back in 2011, these new versions differ by being UHQCDs (Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc) rather than HDCDs (High Definition Compatible Digital).
It’ll End In Tears
This Mortal Coil’s debut album It’ll End In Tears (1984) forged the template; helping to crystallise 4AD’s emerging signature sound whilst shining a light on some of their stable with Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, Dead Can Dance and The Wolfgang Press all involved. The line-up was completed by arranger Martin McCarrick, violinist Gini Ball, Howard Devoto of Buzzcocks / Magazine fame and Cindytalk’s Gordon Sharp. Pitchfork recently named it one of the best Dream Pop albums ever, a moment which “catalysed 4AD’s ascendance from the stilted poetics of goth rock to the kings of gauzy transcendence.”
A1. Kangaroo
A2. Song To The Siren
A3. Holocaust
A4. Fyt
A5. Fond Affections
A6. The Last Ray
B1. Another Day
B2. Waves Become Wings
B3. Barramundi
B4. Dreams Made Flesh
B5. Not Me
B6. A Single Wish
Filigree & Shadow
Released two years after their debut album, This Mortal Coil’s Filigree & Shadow (1986) was no less ornate than its predecessor; a double album with each of its four sides a self-contained unit. New faces joined the cast for this record, including a variety of singers Ivo handpicked like Alison Limerick, Jeanette, Dominic Appleton (Breathless), sisters Deirdre and Louise Rutkowski (Sunset Gun), and Richenel. An intense listen, The Quietus called it “tortured yet oddly euphoric… (music which) could easily rip flimsy souls apart.”
A1. Velvet Belly
A2. The Jeweller
A3. Ivy And Neet
A4. Meniscus
A5. Tears
A6. Tarantula
B1. My Father
B2. Come Here My Love
B3. At First, And Then
B4. Strength Of Strings
B5. Morning Glory
C1. Inch-Blue
C2. I Want To Live
C3. Mama K (1)
C4. Filigree & Shadow
C5. Fire Brothers
C6. Thaïs (1)
C7. I Must Have Been Blind
C8. A Heart Of Glass
D1. Alone
D2. Mama K (2)
D3. The Horizon Bleeds And Sucks Its Thumb
D4. Drugs
D5. Red Rain
D6. Thaïs (2)
Blood
Landing at the start of a new decade, after much had happened in both producer Ivo Watts-Russell’s life and with his 4AD label, the final part of the This Mortal Coil trilogy, Blood (1991), felt like a perfect conclusion. Meticulously orchestrated, vocalists Alison Limerick, Deirdre and Louise Rutkowski return from the second album with Caroline Crawley (Shelleyan Orphan / Babacar) and 4AD signees Heidi Berry, Kim Deal (Pixies / The Breeders), Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses / The Breeders / Belly) and Pieter Nooten all signed up. “Shedding some of its chillier post-punk components, blos-soming into material airy and gorgeous. Covers — many from the psychedelic era — still dominate the material, but they are largely indistinguishable from the originals, so seamless is (it’s) indelible tone. Blood is a treasure.” Consequence of Sound
A1. The Lacemaker
A2. Mr. Somewhere
A3. Andialu
A4. With Tomorrow
A5. Loose Joints
A6. You And Your Sister
B1. Nature’s Way
B2. I Come And Stand At Every Door
B3. Bitter
B4. Baby Ray Baby
B5. Several Times
C1. The Lacemaker II
C2. Late Night
C3. Ruddy And Wretched
C4. Help Me Lift You Up
C5. Carolyn’s Song
C6. D. D. And E.
D1. ‘Til I Gain Control Again
D2. Dreams Are Like Water
D3. I Am The Cosmos
D4. (Nothing But) Blood
