Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Kajagoogoo
Label: Spectra Records
Released: 2008
Runtime: 47:04
Rating: 4.5/5
Kajagoogoo – just the name alone, as bizarrely spacey as it sounds, stirs up strong feelings in everyone who lived through the eighties as an active music fan and spent their free afternoons glued to records and video hits by one of the most unique and creative new wave, or rather pop rock, bands of all time. Thanks to their sonic range, plenty of art rock and classic rock fans rate them too, so the easiest way to pin down their overall style is probably art pop.
This legendary British band etched itself into immortality in the mid-eighties with three studio albums: the debut “White Feathers” (1983), with the famous Limahl still on lead vocals; “Islands” (1984), where bassist/chapman stick player Nick Beggs took over the main mic; and “Crazy Peoples Right to Speak” (1985), released under the name Kaja. After that, once the new wave scene went under in the nineties, they pretty much “slept through” the whole decade.
Their many hits like “Too Shy, “Lion`s Mouth”, “Big Apple”, “Hang On Now”, “Turn Your Back On Me” and “Shouldn`t Do That” had long since become evergreens by then. Most people who only know them superficially remember them mainly for the goofy, teased-up hairdos and for Limahl, even though they made only the debut with him and later, in the era with Nick Beggs up front, completely outshone that early phase of their career from an artistic point of view.
The guys from Kajagoogoo, by now long-grown men and highly respected session players, decided in 2008, when years of fan pleading finally found fertile ground, to get back together, hit the road on tour and record their first new album in more than twenty years, titled “Gone to the Moon”. The band’s official website offered the album as a free mp3 download until February 2009, after which it also came out as an official CD.
“Gone to the Moon” came out just a few months before original drummer Jez Strode and Limahl returned. After all these years, Limahl had apparently decided he didn’t want to go down in the collective memory of music connoisseurs only as the lead voice of “NeverEnding Story”. On the album, Beggs was joined by his longtime buddies, guitarist Steve Askew and keyboardist Stuart Croxford Neale, while the drums on some of the tracks were played by (session drummer) Jonathan Atkinson. The remaining rhythm parts were programmed, and there’s no shortage of electronic samples either. Beggs did his singing duties with flying colors, so you don’t miss Limahl one bit. In places he also played synths and traded off guitar duties with Askew.
On “Gone to the Moon”, which is in many ways a stylistic continuation of the classic “Islands”, Kajagoogoo prove that after all these years they’re simply incredible when it comes to artistic depth and the knack for crafting hypnotically infectious melodies, because unlike most of their musical contemporaries, they age like fine wine: the older they get, the better they are. The album is packed with stunning ambient sweep, arranging creativity and witty rhythmic ideas, which is already plain to hear on the opening title track, where a thick layer of chapman stick, teamed with a sensually blurry guitar riff, makes room for a mischievous, boyish-childlike melody. It sounds like it’s coming from the middle of a sandbox, where some kind of court jester is mocking the passersby.
What stirs up a hefty dose of nostalgia in all the fans who wanted this new album to take them back to the “golden” eighties, though, is the excellent chorus, which more than obviously nods to Limahl’s unforgettable solo evergreen “NeverEnding Story”. Beggs, the grand master of the chapman stick, who in recent years has also been wowing audiences as the bassist in the solo band of legendary ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, still has a superbly preserved voice after all these years. Even some space rockers wouldn’t be ashamed of most of the lyrics on the album, since almost all of them are about space flights and thrilling visits to unknown celestial bodies.
“Smile” has a classic new wave rhythmic pulse with a solid, electronically spiced synth backdrop, while the layered vocals spread a very pleasing romanticism through its overall ambient feel. Thanks to the prominent, rattling chapman stick lines, “Tracy” has a grooving funk rhythm, plenty of interesting electronic effects on the synth, and a classic pop rock chorus with a love-themed lyric. You can’t say of any track on the album that it’s pure pop rock, because Kajagoogoo successfully blend elements of electronica, classic rock, funk and even jazz. “Moon in Motion” is a shorter piece where highly nostalgic ambient is underpinned by fragile piano passages and rhythmically building electronic samples. “First Girl On Mars” sounds like it was made sometime in the mid-eighties. A mighty guitar riff cuts through a colorful wave of electronic samples and a well-oiled chapman stick line, while this time Beggs’ vocals are run through numerous effects. Once again they pull off a distinctly hypnotic, nostalgic chorus.
“Tears” is another splendid creation with lots of vocal effects. Indescribable melancholy and nostalgia mingle in it, while the refined, squeaky-clean production once again pulls hard toward the eighties. The album’s peak, though, is the phenomenal “The Last Day”, the track with the biggest hit potential and a gorgeous epic ambient feel. Thanks to an enigmatic atmosphere that comes from billowing symphonic synth textures, the intro even calls to mind some of the recent work of modern prog rock flag-bearers Porcupine Tree. As expected, though, the win goes once again to the exceptionally beautiful, ambient-rich chorus, which hypnotizes the listener in an instant.
The short instrumental “Excerpts form the Falling Man” builds an enigmatic, pastoral mood on the back of a pleasant acoustic melody. “Table For One” is another new wave bonbon, with a nostalgic layer of synths, backing vocal harmonies and inventive electronic samples in the background. “Nightingales” has an almost magical atmosphere, fusing a pastoral acoustic melody with symphonic touches. “Spring`s Eternal Dance” is Nick’s solo adventure on the chapman stick. The closing “Rocket Boy”, originally created back in the eighties and released as a single, with its playful synth passages, layered vocals and a hefty guitar phrase, makes for an interesting cross between pop, hard rock and surf rock.
Kajagoogoo are back among us, stronger and more confident than ever, and with “Gone to the Moon” they’ve delivered the crowning proof that you can make a masterpiece even after more than twenty years of total studio hibernation. With Limahl back in the lineup, plenty more exciting studio and live projects are surely on the horizon for them.
Line-up
Nick Beggs – vocals, bass guitar, chapman stick, keyboards, tambourine, programming
Steve Askew – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, programming
Stuart Croxford Neale – keyboards, programming
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Jonathan Atkinson – drums
Anna Conti – flute
Production
Kajagoogoo and Mark Downie
Track list
1. Gone to the Moon
2. Smile
3. Tracy
4. Moon in Motion
5. First Girl on Mars
6. Tears
7. The Last Day
8. Excerpts from the Falling Man
9. Table for One
10. Nighingales
11. Spring´s Eternal Dance
12. Rocket Boy
