Veteran 4AD post-punk band, This Mortal Coil contributors, and creators of the timeless ‘I Melt With You’ embark upon their first ever Australian tour.
Modern English is a paragon of consistency. Formed in Colchester, Essex, England, the band have maintained their same core lineup since 1977: vocalist Robbie Grey, guitarist Gary McDowell, bassist Mick Conroy, and keyboardist Stephen Walker. In recent years, Modern English have become widely respected as post-punk innovators, thanks to younger generations discovering their catalogue and new artists citing the band as an influence.
In 1979, Modern English self-released its first single on its own Limp Records label prior to signing to 4AD, home to such like-minded acts as Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. Laying the foundation for future musical movements such as goth and industrial, Modern English would gain the attention of renowned BBC DJ John Peel, who featured the band twice on his program.
On 1982’s After the Snow, the band’s sound evolved from the dark, moody and challenging post-punk found on its debut, Mesh & Lace, to a more commercial and radio friendly mix of synthesizers, guitars, catchy drum beats and singer Robbie Grey’s unmistakable vocals. As the title suggests, the icy sound featured on Mesh & Lace melted away on After the Snow to reveal more concise and potent songs, highlighted by ‘I Melt With You’ which brought the band up from the underground to the mainstream. As well as being featured in the critically and commercially successful film Valley Girl, ‘I Melt With You’ is a song so popular that the band was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 BMI Awards for seven million plays on radio. After the Snow was produced by the acclaimed Hugh Jones whose production credits include albums by Echo and the Bunnymen, Simple Minds, The Damned and many more, and the LP was released on the legendary 4AD Records in the UK and licensed to Sire Records in the U.S.
During 1983–1984, Grey, McDowell and Conroy were also involved with This Mortal Coil. Robbie Grey performed on Colin Newman’s ‘Not Me’ from It’ll End In Tears, and all three performed on the Sixteen Days/ Gathering Dust ep.
The band relocated to NYC to work on UK Top 5 album Ricochet Days, which like After the Snow made the top 100 in the US, and Stop Start (1986) before going on hiatus.
Modern English reconvened sporadically throughout the ’90s and 2000s with the original lineup getting back together permanently in 2010. The band released the album Take Me To The Trees in 2016 and set to extensively throughout the USA, leading the band making its late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as well as a performance on The TODAY Show celebrating 40 years since the release of After The Snow and ‘I Melt With You’.
In February this year, Modern English released the brand-new album 1 2 3 4 (“…crackles with spontaneity – 1 2 3 4 sounds like the inspired work of the same group that made Mesh & Lace, After the Snow, and Ricochet Days” – Allmusic), and are looking forward to visiting the one country that has always been their dream to visit – Australia. Catch them when they appear with Buzzcocks throughout the country this October.