I Forget About The World, I Forget What I Learned

Dutch Electro Goth Darkwave pioneers Clan Of Xymox's new single and video emerged at the weekend, the perhaps unsurprisingly titled Blood Of Christ. 

 

Whilst everyone has (quite rightly) been getting very excited about the first new album from Robert Smith in nearly two decades, Ronny Moorings has seemingly just been getting on with it, ploughing a deep furrow of synth tinged angst, culminating in Exodus, the 18th - yes, 18th - Clan Of Xymox album.

The first two albums on 4AD in 1985 and 1986 landed at just the right time for me, as I was trying to reconcile my emerging Goth tendencies with a love to groove. I immersed myself deeply in those two long players. 

 

The 12" double A-side single A Day / Stranger became a holy grail, and the feeling of happiness (with a tinge of melancholy, naturally) when I discovered a secondhand copy for under two quid in Replay Records a few years later was immense.

I stuck with Xymox for the Blind Hearts EP in 1987 and the singles from 1989's Twist Of Shadows, though I didn't buy the album. As the decade ended, and Ronny took a more commercial dance direction, incorporating elements of Wild Thing by The Troggs in one single, I had pretty much checked out.

Understandable unaware and unfazed by the withdrawal of my patronage, Xymox continued to release music, readopting the Clan Of prefix in the late 1990s and establishing a new band dynamic around Moorings as the sole founding member.

And so to the present day. I enjoyed listening to Blood Of Christ and the preceding single X-Odus, in the same way that it's lovely to meet up with an old friend after many years and wonder at how little has changed (in a good way) despite the passage of time. 

I'm not sure that I feel sufficiently compelled to check out the full album, but it did prompt me to spend an hour in their company on YouTube, pulling out a selection of music and videos for your entertainment.

The 10-song selection is split very clearly into two periods: 2017-2024 and the 'classic' 1980s period. All of the songs in the former were first-time listens for me and worth a mention also for the long-time collaborations with film maker Zoe Kavanagh.

The 1980s period continues in reverse chronological order with Obsession from Twist Of Shadows, reportedly their most commercially successful album. I was surprised to find an official video for Muscoviet Musquito, as I'm only familiar with the song from it's inclusion on the 4AD compilation Lonely Is An Eyesore. Ronny is rocking some big hair in this one. 

Onto two songs from the classic brace of Clan Of Xymox albums. Medusa nudges the debut as my favourite of the two, the point that Ronny hit that sweet spot of angst, theatrics and some really, really good songs. I was pleased to find a fan-made video for album closer Back Door as well as should-have-been single, Michelle. Having wrestled unsuccessfully with deciphering the lyrics at the time, I've smiled to see that many internet translators have fared no better since!

And so it ends where it started for me. I couldn't find a video for Stranger, but A Day is present and correct in all it's hairsprayed, backcombed, gelled and slicked back glory. Seeing Ronny with original Clan members Anka Wolbert, Pieter Nooten and Frank Weyzig, and hearing the music is a real blast.

Blood Of Christ (2024)

X-Odus (2024)

She (2020)

Loneliness (2017) 

Vixen In Disguise (2017)

Obsession (1989) 

Muscoviet Musquito (1987)

Back Door (1986)

Michelle (1986)

A Day (1985)

You can find Clan Of Xymox's extensive 21st century catalogue on Bandcamp, if you want to thrill (and chill) a friend or loved one with a surprise purchase.