Paul Haig - Chain

Overlooked 80s gem, spruced up with bonus tracks

For someone who first caught the public’s attention via the shambolic post-punk jangle of Glasgow’s Josef K, the relative sophistication and elaborate musical ambition of Haig’s solo material can come as a bit of a surprise. Early studio collaborations with Cabaret Voltaire and Bernard Sumner hinted at what was to come, but his lengthy hook-up with Alan Rankine of The Associates resulted in arguably his best work.

Chain, originally released in 1989, owed much to the industrial electronica of Penthouse & Pavement-era Heaven 17, with a smidgen of discofied David Bowie liberally sprinkled into the pot. The likes of Communication and Ideal Of Living mine the same seam of aggression and urban paranoia as The The, but what truly stands out is Haig’s powerful and emotive voice, the sound of a reconstituted blue-eyed soul boy strutting through a chilly landscape of wires, steel and concrete.

Major label difficulties contributed to the album’s initial poor showing (Virgin offshoot Circa failed to get it into the shops until weeks after Haig had finished a UK tour), and although the production techniques and song structures are clearly of the time, the record as a whole stands up remarkably well almost 20 years later.

Cherry Red | CDMRED 336

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
<< Back to Issue 346