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Siouxsie Sioux – the outsiders outsider releases her debut solo record to mixed hopes and fears. Can she pull it off? Can she achieve better or even come close to creating something greater than what she started in 1978? The answer – she doesn’t care. It’s Siouxsie bloody Sioux for fucks sake, have some respect! For 30 years Siouxsie Sioux has been an iconic figure in the musical hall of fame, garnering a fanbase not as omnipresent as those of the Pistols, but just as loyal, her music just as important. Surviving and outlasting almost all of her yesteryear contemporaries, The Banshees and The Creatures, it is finally time for the Punk queen to stretch her legs and see what she can come up with completely uninhibited by expectations that are attached to a band reforming or releasing new material and explore a new side within her musical prowess via ‘Mantaray’ – a seething electro, cabaret, industrial, punk, pool of sonic assault.
"I’m on the verge of an awakening/ a new kind of strength for me” opens ‘Into A Swan’, symbolic of Siouxsies current state of rebirth - giving herself another chance to see what she can do with music, eagerly traipsing new ground yet overly attempting to appeal to a younger audience whilst backing music sounding like it was conceived by Trent Reznor strives to appear like the soundtrack to a nightmare. It dawns very quickly that ‘Mantaray’ is going to be one hell of an eclectic and difficult album.
Bombastic industrial beats whilst Rammstein guitars flail around sporadically, adding to the trip rather than taking control of the album, are main courses upon this sonic buffet, but as comparisons can be drawn very quickly, one has to wonder whether it is Siouxsie Sioux proving she is a musical chameleon with her finger on the pulse of groundbreaking music, showing her appreciation for bands she has some sort of connection with, or a tired musician resting on her laurels and writing tunes easily accessed due to a reminiscent sound…harsh to think in such a manner, but when tracks like ‘About To Happen’ come off like a speed addled Franz Ferdinand b-side and the blatant Yeah Yeah Yeahs rip off ‘One Mile Below’ sounds almost stolen from ‘Fever To Tell’, it’s hard to distinguish between an artist becoming a product of her influence, or giving a kind nod to her “Influencees”.
Of course there are some really cool songs amidst the ten tracks that have been conceived, but that still comes down to what you might be looking for in a solo record by such an influential figure-ess. ‘Drone Zone’ is a melancholy trip down Messed-Up Lane, reiterating the nightmarish feel as Sioux sings in such a menacing manner you half expect her to cackle at you, whilst schizophrenic trumpets punch their way into the foreground as trip hop keyboard lines mess with your head. ‘They Follow’ you is an awesomely off-kilter electro pop song that comes right out of left-field to take a break from the garish industrial beats and show an almost sensitive side to our Queen of Punk. However narrowly avoiding a dodgy 80’s feel, it is a triumph in itself as it is the closest thing to Pop you’re likely to hear from our songstress, yet it retains an unmistakable punk background as any alluring niceties are broken up by a harsh fuzz guitar solo.
Unfortunately these highlights are overshadowed by the overly Cabaret feel that the listener must trudge through. Constantly sounding like she is gunning to pen the new James Bond theme tune, ‘Mantaray’ flies far too close for comfort into Shirley Bassey territory causing a few winces here and there on tracks like ‘Loveless’ and ‘If It Doesn’t Kill You’, to name two. Of course they have an undeniable Siouxsie feel to them, but it is just too painful to listen to more than a few times.
At the end of the day ‘Mantaray’ is an album by an artist looking to spread her wings and just create. Her solo album will no more take away from her legacy than it will turn away old fans or stop prospective ones researching into her back catalogue. Approach with an open mind and you will not be too disappointed.
