It'll End in Tears

by This Mortal Coil

Overview

The first of 4AD owner Ivo Watts-Russell's multi-artist studio sessions under the This Mortal Coil name, 1984's It'll End in Tears was a surprisingly influential album in many circles, key in the reawakening of interest in artists like Alex Chilton and the late Tim Buckley by a younger generation of listeners. (Two songs from Big Star's Third are included, a version of "Kangaroo" featuring Cindytalk vocalist Gordon Sharp that sounds even druggier and more disorienting than the original, and a chilling piano and strings version of "Holocaust" with haunted vocals by Howard Devoto; the simple but ravishing version of Buckley's "Song to the Siren" by Cocteau Twins Liz Fraser and Robin Guthrie was cited by David Lynch as the direct inspiration for Julee Cruise's first two albums and has since been used several times in commercials and films.) The covers are the most memorable part of the album -- a Robbie Grey-sung version of Colin Newman's "Not Me," cleverly incorporating a hypnotic riff from another Newman song, "B," is the most conventionally hooky song on the album, to the point that folks who haven't listened to the album for a while tend to forget that half of the songs are "band" originals. These six songs mark 4AD's definitive break from its origins as an artsy post-punk imprint (Bauhaus, Modern English's first few records, etc.) to the development of "the 4AD sound," a heavily reverbed wash of treated guitars and atmospheric keyboards with vocals treated as another instrument in an amorphous wash of sound. The problem is that these largely instrumental tracks sound more like half-baked studio doodles than fully formed songs; a three-song stretch on side two featuring Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard is particularly tiresome. As a whole, It'll End in Tears is a lovely, often exquisite record; taken individually, the power of some of the songs is lost. ~ Stewart Mason

Product Details

Release Date:	12/07/2018
Label:	4Ad
UPC:	0652637300413

Tracks

1. Kangaroo
2. Song to the Siren
3. Holocaust
4. Fyt
5. Find Affections
6. The Last Ray
7. Another Day
8. Waves Become Wings
9. Barramundi
10. Dreams Made Flesh
11. Not Me
12. A Single Wish

Album Credits

Performance Credits

This Mortal Coil   Primary Artist
Martyn Young   Guest Artist,Guitar (Bass),Bass,Guitar,Synthesizer
Mark Cox   Guest Artist,DX-7,Organ
Robin Guthrie   Guest Artist,E-Bow,Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Guitar (12 String),Guitar (12 String Electric)
Elizabeth Fraser   Guest Artist,Vocals
Lisa Gerrard   Guest Artist,Vocals,Accordion,Yang Chin
Simon Raymonde   Guest Artist,Bass,DX-7,Guitar,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic)
Steven Young   Guest Artist,Piano
Gordon Sharp   Guest Artist,Vocals
Ivo Watts-Russell   Keyboards
John Fryer   Loops
Gini Ball   Viola,Violin
Martin McCarrick   Cello
Howard Devoto   Vocals
Brendan Perry   Bass,Drums,Bass Drone
Martin McGarrick   Cello
Manuela Rickers   Guitar
Robbie Grey   Vocals

Technical Credits

23 Envelope   Design,Art Direction
John Fryer   Instrumentation,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Simon Raymonde   Effects,Composer
Ivo Watts-Russell   Composer,Producer
Colin Newman   Composer
Larry Beckett   Composer
Robin Guthrie   Composer
Lisa Gerrard   Composer
Martin McCarrick   String Arrangements
Roy Harper   Composer
Tim Buckley   Composer
Alex Chilton   Composer
Martin McGarrick   String Arrangements
Rema-Rema   Composer
Steven Young   Composer
Gordon Sharp   Composer