Sudden Creation is electronic solo artist Chris Mines from Cambridgeshire, making the music which he describes as tales of love, death, and middle-aged angst in three and a half minute slices of synthpop. Heavily influenced by the artists that formed the soundtrack to his teenage years including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Fad Gadget, Kraftwerk, The Human League, OMD, Buggles and Blancmange.
Sudden Creation first appeared on the synth scene during 2012 with his acerbic lyrics and humorous videos leading to the first of two support slots with Depeche Mode tribute act, Speak and Spell. Songs like Synth Boys Don’t Smile, and the infectious two-minute anthem I Never Met Vince Clarke soon became both live and YouTube favourites, the latter even featuring in the Erasure Information Service newsletter two months running. The debut album, Synth Boys Don’t Smile, was released at the end of 2015, coinciding with the first of three triumphant appearances at the Eclectic Electric events at Islington’s iconic Hope and Anchor.
Sudden Creation is due to release their second album on 12th November and I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview. The album is a melange of a variety of musical styles, but all wrapped up in a synthesizer sensibility.
The album opens with Analogue in the UK, a witty twist on the Sex Pistol’s Anarchy in the UK. Just like the punk fuelled original, the song is packed with frenetic energic, staccato vocals and powerful synth backing. It’s a jolting opening to this album which makes the listener sit up and take notice! Chris said of the track, “The idea for this came from Daniel Miller’s comment that synth acts were the true punks. Who needs three chords when you can use one finger? Every part on this song is therefore monophonic, built up to give the whole sound.”
In the ethos of punk the mentality of self-made music, One Man Party similarly has a homemade feel to it and with some decent production behind it, would elevate the album from ‘a good listen’ to a more holistic and rounded experience in my opinion. Having said all that, the quality of the songs contained within are musically proficient, well-formed tunes with some witty themes thrown in along the way and it deserves to be accepted for these reasons.
Track two is Dreaming of You which was a pre-album single release, and which continues with the punk-inspired formulation reminding me very much of Elvis Costello’s Pump it Up circa 1978. Chris said that his song-writing process was turned upside down for this song, stating “This is one of those unusual Sudden Creation songs when I wrote the music before I had lyrics or in fact any idea what the song would be about. I wrote it one Christmas whilst staying at my in-laws in Cheshire in front of the TV. The lyric was a stream of consciousness and is definitely the saddest love song I have ever written and not in the melancholy sense.”
This track was followed up on 25th June 2021 with The Man Who’s Had Everyone which is a well-formed synth song with a captivating opening hook which runs throughout the track and has an early 80s sensibility about it that wouldn’t have been out of place on the soundtrack to the classic 80s film, The Breakfast Club. The backing vocals by Sarah Skinner bring an added dimension to the track and takes it to a whole new level.
The Man Who’s Had Everyone Lyric Video by Sudden Creation – YouTube
The title track song of the album One Man Party reminds me of a Sparks track from the early 80s era and is a showcase of analogue synth wrapped up plenty of quirkiness a la Mael Brothers. The song is about that person who we stand next to at a gig who appears to be at a totally different place that everyone else. We’ve all been there!
The musical style of the album shifts its axis with Bethune which opens with the echo-like spoken word over the intro and is gentler in its pace, delivering a more calming side to the album. The track is about the brave young soldiers who participated in the world wars, and how they’re torn away from their home life and families and faced the untold horrors and the PTSD they inevitably experienced after the event. It’s a poignant track and this is where Chris’ strength lies in my opinion.
The next couple of tracks, Be That Girl and Dad Dancing are pure 80s-inspired synthpop. Both songs will have you up dancing around your handbag in a heartbeat. Frank’ey Says is another clever twist on a song title which has a crescendo hook that will fast become an earworm. However, the song doesn’t relate to Frankie Goes to Hollywood by to Frank Tovey of Fad Gadget, who was such a special artist to Sudden Creation. The night before Frank died, he had posted on his website: “As you know, I’m currently writing new material. Be patient my little rodents, I know you crave blood but these things take time. You may not see me again for a few months while I check my circuits, reprogram my nerve system and generate some new flesh for you to devour.” The song Frank’ey Says is imagining Frank calling to his fans, and ultimately saying goodbye.
Sudden Creation has said that he aims to emulate those simple yet classic arrangements that heralded the era of classic 80’s synthpop, which has been encapsulated perfectly in these three songs in particular.
Meanwhile, I Want to be Your Synthesizer has a jazz-inspired, lounge lizard vibes reminiscent of 1980’s Soft Cell, with the same pseudo sleazy, easy-going vibes. The imagery constructed in my mind’s eye is that of a smoky Chicago speakeasy bar, with accompanying house band and a 1930’s style microphone. It’s a great track.
Meanwhile You Can’t Call Me Al changes the musical style one more with a phone conversation intro to the song likening Sudden Creation to ‘the Weird Al Yankovich of pop’ thus launching into the song itself. It’s quirky to say the least! There has always been deliberate humour in Sudden Creation lyrics (and video), but most of them are trying to make deeper points, whilst using humour as a vehicle. Chris said, “I don’t consider myself a comedy act any more than Eminem, Pulp or Kirsty MacColl would, yet they have a very sharp sense of humour in their work too.”
All too soon we reach the final track Damage which is an epic instrumental track and is my favourite track on the album. The tempo is evenly paced, showcasing the art of synthesizer playing at its finest. It couldn’t be further away from the opening track, both metaphorically and musically. Chris said of Damage, “This was inspired by a couple of friends on social media. We all mostly post the fun or happy things going on in our lives, but we all know, behind those images people have all kinds of issues, problems or situations going on. It’s that contrast between the happy images and the reality. You often have no idea what is going on in someone’s life until things go very wrong and this a song about all those damaged people hiding behind the happy profile pictures”.
That said, you should always end on a high, and this album certainly does!
One Man Party by Sudden Creation is available from Bandcamp from 12th November 2021.
All images were provided by Chris Mines and the copyright remains with him.
Vodkaangel22 