Way back in November 2022, I wrote this post about the band Sparks. The post recalls that I was a fan of Sparks in the 1970’s then forgot all about them until Edgar Wright kindly reminded me in 2020 (he hasn’t popped round for his tea and digestives yet).
I’m sorry to say that I’ve done the same thing with the English band Dubstar (but probably worse). You see, at the time I embarked on this voyage of rediscovery, I only knew one Dubstar song: “Not So Manic Now”. This was their 1996 Top Twenty hit in the UK charts and I absolutely loved it. A lot.
Not So Manic Now
I witnessed first-hand Dubstar’s first appearance on Top of the Pops, on 4th January 1996; and I was truly smitten by the song. But it wasn’t until I heard the CD version of it, that the impact of the first few intro bars really hit me. Sarah’s wind whistling and the soaring synths at the beginning of the song just hit me square in the ears. Instant goosebumps. Those synths, that sound, coupled with Sarah’s vocals (which has the most glorious of slightly Northern twangs) it quickly became – and stayed – one of my favourite songs.
So much so, that if I haven’t listened to it in a while, I’ll listen to the intro then go back to the start and listen to it again. It still gives me goosebumps that intro. All over again, even now. I love that intro. I love that song (did I mention that?).
Dubstar charted nine times between 1995 and 2000. Their peak position was no. 15 with a re-release of "Stars" in 1996 (following the popularity of "Not So Manic Now").
I completely ignored eight of those nine charting tracks. And I ignored them all the way up until May 2024.
Top of the Pops repeats
At the beginning of May 2024, BBCFour aired an episode of Top Of The Pops from 4th January 1996. That was the programme that Dubstar made their debut performance on British Television of “Not So Manic Now”. As I watched it in May 2024, recognition dawned…
Oh them!
I wonder what happened to them?
I decided I needed more.
Are you alive?
A slight change of line-up occurred in 2000, but internet searches reveal that yes, Dubstar are still alive.
Thus began the titular voyage of rediscovery; they are still alive, but are they still active? Do they still make (new) music? If so, is it any good? Given I’ve only heard two of their songs in total (I had caught a bit of “Stars” at some point over the years – probably on Top of the Pops) were they any good to start with?
The voyage of rediscovery
The first thing to do when setting out on a discovery (or rediscovery, in my case) mission is to examine the band’s discography and determine if there’s old stuff and/or new stuff. Forget extras, ad hoc appearances, charity stuff, revival stuff, live stuff for the time being – the place to start is studio albums. If a band stops making music as the band, then the discography will (usually) reflect that.
In Dubstar’s case, there are five studio albums, from 1995’s “Disgraceful” to 2022’s “Two”. So that meant Dubstar are still together and – up until 2022 anyway – recording.
A point to note (that may be significant) is that Steve Hillier (co-founder and one of the songwriter/arrangers) left Dubstar just before “Make It Better” was released. So between “Make It Better” and “One”, there’s a change in the line-up – would that make a difference?
The Albums
OK, so five studio albums:
- Disgraceful (1995)
- Goodbye (1997)
- Make It Better (2000)
- One (2018)
- Two (2022)
Getting the music
I only had “Not So Manic Now”, which had been included in one of those compilation albums that used to be all the rage. But I had nothing else.
I am not a huge fan of downloading music for free. My opinion is that the artist(s) made the music for a reason: in order to make a living (as well as the joy of doing it), so I think it's unfair that the artist(s) shouldn't be remunerated for their trouble. That means buying their work, not sourcing free downloads or second-hand CD's. That means no Ebay, no Spotify and no torrents (or whatever today's equivalent is). It means Amazon or Bandcamp (mainly).
I started by buying just the album “Disgraceful” first. The theory is that if I liked it, I’ll continue with the rest, buying them one by one (or stopping if I become reticent to continue).
What follows are my impressions of the music. It’s not intended as a review (different people like different things), this is just my humble opinion.
Disgraceful
The first listen to any music is both a wonderful and terrible thing. Wonderful, for the anticipation of hearing music you’ve never heard before. Terrible, for the music you’re anticipating to be good, might turn out to be crap instead (and you’ve wasted your money to boot!).
Well, I know at least what one track is going to sound like (“Not So Manic Now” is track 7 on the album).
I've related in some of the posts I've written about #music on this site, some of the impressions I get from a first listen. I can like it, I can hate it. Sometimes it takes three, four even five passes at it, before it clicks. But if it clicks, I love it.
What of “Disgraceful”? I’m pleased to say that the first listen was (as they say) tremendous! I loved every single track straight away, with no doubts, no need for another listen, no mucking about. Eleven tracks of absolute pure joy.
Originally two things drew me to “Not So Manic Now”. The soaring synths in the intro and Sarah Blackwood’s vocals. What I got from the other ten tracks on the album was a pleasant mixture of what you could call dream-pop and synth-pop. There’s some clear dub (or reggae) influences in a couple of tracks, but these are definitely some catchy tunes. There’s a significant synth presence, ranging from the big lush soundscapes of that gorgeous intro of “Not So Manic Now”, to the almost minimal synth presence in “Elevator Song”.
The thing I like about is that it’s not all synths, drum machines and programming. You can discern the manual drums in the background (along and in synch with the programmed ones) and you can clearly hear the talented Chris Wilkie’s guitar. Most of these tracks have the most wonderful guitar riffs. You can tell Chris Wilkie is actually playing counter melody riffs instead of just playing chords in the background. I love the atmospheric quality of these tracks. You can immerse yourself in some luxurious sound, take a bath in Sarah Blackwood’s stunning vocals, revel in the melancholia and wrap yourself in those funny/sad/tragic/nonsensical (delete as applicable) lyrics.
Every track on “Disgraceful” is a big hit with me. A big hit that established itself on the first listen – this is not a frequent occurrence in these parts.
Goodbye and Make It Better
I was so blown away by “Disgraceful” (and remembering that there’s a big change in band line-up to come between the third and fourth albums), I bought the next two “Goodbye” and “Make It Better” at the same time.
Goodbye duly arrived. “Goodbye” has taken a slightly different turn. It sounded to me that there’s a wider range of musical styles wrapped up in “Goodbye”, ranging from the dub reggae of “It’s Over”, to “I Will Be Your Girlfriend” to “Cathedral Park”‘s catchy pop tunes, to the sadness of “Ghost” and “No More Talk”.
I’m guessing that since this is the second album, a little more variation was introduced – to excellent effect.
Make It Better – at the risk of repeating myself, it was very much along the lines of “Disgraceful” (I’m pleased to say) and was a hit for me on first listen. All of the tracks are superb on this album: “Arc Of Fire” reminded me of the feelings I had when I first heard “Not So Manic Now” – it gave me the goosebumps all over again. It’s got a bit of a rock slant to it – I gather it was a slight departure from the normal Dubstar fare. I am of the opinion that it fits in nicely, despite being about nuclear missiles!
I giggled at “I’m Conscious Of Myself”, mainly for the line “Don’t you just love my arse”, but well aware of the wider, sinister connotations of the lyrics and the Country and Western-ified “I (Friday Night)” are stand-out tracks. “Mercury” is a cover of a Kirsty Hawkshaw track and is the last time they put a cover on a studio album until “Two”.
Sarah’s vocals remain superb. She seem to have a knack of conveying all the sadness and the melancholy, then twisting around to relate a jaunty little pop jig. A little pop jig about spiking your girlfriend for revenge, then laughing as she’s tripping in fear. (“When You Say Goodbye”) This is truly fabulous stuff!
I loved both of these albums as well. In fact, so far there isn’t a single track that I either don’t like, or I’m not keen on over three albums so far. This is indeed a rarity!
One and Two
Following “Make It Better” (and following the departure of Steve Hillier) there’s an eighteen year gap between albums. Sarah went off to front the band CLIEИT for a while (have yet to explore that). Sarah, Steve and Chris reformed briefly in 2010 (as Dubstar) to release a cover of “I’m in Love with a German Film Star” for an Amnesty International project.
Given that I’ve loved everything in their previous three albums, I ordered copies of the albums “One” and “Two” at the same time.
One was for me a pivotal album. Would Steve Hillier’s departure affect the quality of the songs, the content? Would we lose the ethereal synth sounds that I so loved? Would we lose the arrangements?
I’m very pleased to say no. Whilst I imagine it was a blow to lose Hillier’s input, it seems that Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood are carrying on the Dubstar ethos just fine. There’s certainly no discernible loss of production value or quality and Sarah’s voice remains exactly as it was in 1996. It’s bordering on the uncanny (shouts: “Witchcraft” into the middle distance).
We still have the catchy tunes: “Love Comes Late” and “Why Don’t You Kiss Me”, the melodic melancholia of “Please Stop Leaving Me Alone” and the Motown-esque vibes of “I Hold Your Heart”, proving that the duo are more than capable of being Dubstar. There’s even a waltz in there with the unsurprisingly titled “Waltz No.9”.
The killer track on this album is without a doubt “Mantra”. It’s a message of personal growth, self-reflection and resilience, but it’s also one of those lovely tracks that Dubstar are known for. Starting with a lush synth intro, Sarah’s harmonised voice from the get-go takes the listener through a crescendo of synths, drums, vocals and strings, before letting the listener down gently with the gradual removal of instruments until you’re just left with Sarah’s harmonies and those same lush synths. Unusually, the vocals are harmonised throughout – straight in at the start with no hesitation. A notable mention should be made of the the bass-line and drums on this track. These are glorious – the stuff of dreams – they are perfect within an micro-millimetre of their lives. It is six minutes and thirty-two seconds of pure, unadulterated audio joy. This is again; the stuff of goosebumps.
Two is an album written (like many others) during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was such an odd time, many people were locked down in their own homes, the rules of engagement with other people changed dramatically and some of them permanently. It’s fairly obvious that there’s pandemical influences in some tracks on “Two” – “I Can See You Outside” and “Hygiene Strip” are examples. In typical Dubstar style, the pandemic songs are upbeat and jaunty. We would, of course expect nothing less.
There’s a kind-of return to the Motown-esque style in the melancholic track “Token”. Melancholy is of course, never too far away with a Dubstar track. “Tectonic Plates” delivers yet more to us, however this track contains the lyric that made me smile the most on this album:
There goes the boy, he’s never been a lover’s toy.
Joy has never visited his desolate face, he waits, but doesn’t think he’ll ever get a taste.
“Joy has never visited his desolate face”. It’s a lovely bit of descriptive phrasework – excellent stuff.
“Lighthouse” returns us to the lush synth sound. Ethereal is back in force with this one, but that seems to be where that shenanigans ends. The rest of the album, “Blood”, “Social Proof” and “Kissing To Be Unkind” are the usual jaunty electro-poppy sounds that sit nicely around the ears, with lyrics that have no less impact than before.
The album finishes with “Perfect Circle” – a cover of a 1983 R.E.M. track. It’s almost acoustic, fifty percent of it is Sarah and a piano. It’s perfect.
Covers
I mentioned in this post that I love covers of songs. I love good ones, I love bad ones, I just love cover versions of songs. Comme ci comme ça.
Across their five studio albums, Dubstar have arranged four covers. Famously “Not So Manic Now” (a cover of a Brick Supply song), “St. Swithins Day” (a cover of a Billy Bragg song) both on the album “Disgraceful”. “Mercury” (a cover of a Kirsty Hawkshaw song) on the album “Make It Better” and “Perfect Circle” (a cover of an R.E.M. song) on the “Two” album.
With respect to the original artists, Sarah does indeed make it better. A Dubstar cover is a beautiful thing – taking what was originally a good track and giving it the “Dubstar treatment”, with all the synths, the guitars, the arrangement and the icing on the cake: Sarah’s vocals.
The only non-studio album cover that I’ve listened to (so far) is the “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” cover. Originally performed by The Passions in January 1981, this track has been covered many times by many different bands over the years. The original track (as performed by The Passions), is another one of my all-time favourites that’s stayed on my playlists for ages. Imagine my joy in hearing the Dubstar cover version, to discover that they haven’t deviated that far away from the original, you can only detect the tiniest of differences between the orchestrations of the two tracks. Barbara Gogan’s vocals are exemplary on the original track, but Sarah gives it the typical Sarah twist and – you guessed it – makes it better.
I’m in love with a Halifax pop star…’s voice
For the first time in a very long time, I find myself loving a band’s whole output (it last happened with the band Venus Hum fifteen years ago. Fifteen!). Everything I’ve heard from Dubstar so far: every track from the five studio albums, the Passions cover, the acoustic version of “Not So Manic Now”. There is not a single track that I don’t like, or wouldn’t listen to again. (Even Sparks have one track I’m not so keen on (but that is over 26 studio albums!).)
There are many things to love about Dubstar. The synths, the guitars, the drums and the bass-lines. The arrangements are always spot-on, just right as the kind of music that I find pleasing to my ear. The lyrics remind me of some of Ron Mael’s work: setting up the singer to sing sad things, songs about the loss of love, or the inability to love, or just loving their arse. There are some lovely lines in those songs and they are sung in just the right tone.
Sarah Blackwood does have the most marvellous voice. She was once described as “just a folk singer”, but oh no. I disagree strongly with that. She has the knack of singing those lyrics straight – without a hint of irony or comedy – just clear and at times, with great melancholy. She has just the right amount of “Northern twang” in her singing voice to make it just the right side of gorgeous and incredibly interesting.
The band are consistent when they perform songs. One of my pet irritations is that an artist will release a record, then change it when sung live: add bits, take bits away etc. Not so with Dubstar. When you see them live, or on YouTube (for example), the song is performed as it was when they recorded it. I like this about a band (Sparks do that too, incidentally) and Sarah sings them perfectly, every time.
It seems that they are just as manic now as they ever were.
Notes from a musical idiot
I’m very pleased I took the time to set out on this voyage of rediscovery. It’s taken me quite a few weeks (so far) of reading, internet-ing, listening (that’s the best part!) and typing copious notes. I’ve drafted and redrafted this post many times over.
But it has been worth it; very much so, I’m pleased to say. This is a band that I very much regret not following up a bit earlier in my life, but hey-ho, life happens and all that jazz. I’ve put some links below if you want to find out more.
In the meantime, I still have listening to do. There are tracks that I haven’t seen or heard yet, I am in no doubt whatsoever that they’ll be just as magnificent as all the rest. And I can’t wait!
The “Sarah makes it better” lines are from the song “Stay” on the album “Make It Better”.
I’ve used the word “melancholy” quite a lot during this post. Sorry about that, but there’s not really any other way to describe it.
Dubstar links
As far as I can tell, Dubstar still have plenty of fans. But just in case you don’t know who they are, either visit Dubstar’s official site or you can read more on their Wikipedia Page.
For the Dubstar Archive and insights into the original band, visit Steve Hillier’s site and the other Dubstar site (which I think is also maintained by Steve Hillier).
At time of writing, the links for the Dubstar Shop on the official Dubstar site are broken. However, on their official Facebook page, they have a “Shop Now” button there, leading to their shop.