In his fourth decade as a pop singer,
Marc Almond
still knows how to tease punters anxious for the next project. Most of his records -- from
Soft Cell
to
Marc & the Mambas
to his wildly eclectic solo albums -- have been, more often than not, deeply satisfying and well worth waiting for.
The Dancing Marquis
is a glorious tease. It pairs the vinyl-only
Dancing Marquis
and
Tasmanian Tiger
EPs with a pair of new tracks and two remixes as a precursor to his next release, the soundtrack to his one-man song cycle
Ten Plagues
, written for him by playwright Mark Ravenhill. There's a bit of everything here. The opening title track (produced by
Tony Visconti
) walks a jagged line between glam,
Stray Cats
rockabilly, and bright modern pop. "Burn Bright" features a brief acoustic guitar/brushed snare intro that recalls
Lou Reed
's "Walk on the Wild Side" before magically transforming itself into one of
Almond
's finer ballads, orchestrated by strings and a female backing chorus. Now in his fifties, he has lost none of his range or power. He's also kept his deliberately decadent appeal, as evidenced by the
Jarvis Cocker
-penned "Worship Me Now," boasting jagged, pulsing synths, looped drums, and a keyboard bassline. With tongue firmly in cheek,
, egged on by his chorus, elucidates on the quality of his sex appeal and power. (This cut is also the subject of the two remixes by
Spatial Awareness
Roland Faber
&
Kal Luedeling
.) "Tasmanian Tiger" is a classic raved-up glam waltz a la
Gary Glitter
. Libertine guitarist
Carl Barat
wrote "Love Is Not on Trial," another glorious ballad delivered by the singer with naked yet dramatic effusiveness; a woody upright bass and stinging lead guitar underscore his every word. The most moving cut on the set is "Death of a Dandy," written for the late artist Sebastian Horsley. Commencing as a skeletal small combo number, it adds layer upon layer of instrumentation until it explodes as a full rock band/orchestra/choral number, with a wrangling guitar break adding an undercurrent of pathos to
's admiration for his subject.
gives fans a couple of new cuts (neither of which will appear on
) and opportunities to revel in the truly unique work of a too often undercelebrated pop stylist. ~ Thom Jurek