How Siouxsie & the Banshees found the secret ingredient for 1995's 'The Rapture'
Bryget Chrisfield
STACK Writer
Chow down on a coupla fun facts about Siouxsie & the Banshees’ swansong, which has just been reissued on transparent turquoise vinyl.
Usually distinguishable by dark themes and disquieting lyrics, Siouxsie & the Banshees’ 11th album The Rapture – which features atypical instrumentation such as mandolins, cellos, bells, and sweeping strings – contains some of the most convivial material they’ve ever released.
The missing ingredient: Cale
According to Siouxsie Sioux, the band pressed pause on completing The Rapture for six months while contemplating who should produce its remaining tracks.
It was while she was in Paris alongside then hubby/Banshees drummer Budgie – to play on 1994’s Chansons des mers froides (translation: Songs from the Cold Seas), a concept album by French composer and record producer Hector Zazou – that the crucial missing ingredient finally materialised.
“We found out that John Cale was coming to contribute to this, and as soon as his name was mentioned, we just looked at each other,” Siouxsie recalled during an interview. “The only question we kept asking ourselves was: ‘Why didn’t we think of him before or sooner?’”
Why O Baby is “shocking”
Siouxsie sounds positively chipper throughout The Rapture’s Cale-produced lead single O Baby, which features a buoyant, skipping tempo. Of this upbeat track, Siouxsie has acknowledged: “It's probably the most shocking song, ‘cause it's a happy song which is quite perverse for us.”
Soundtracking Showgirls
In 2014, a remastered CD version of The Rapture was released containing three bonus tracks, one of which was New Skin, a song Siouxsie & the Banshees composed and recorded especially for the Showgirls soundtrack.
Did you know?
After Siouxsie met bassist/Banshees co-founder Steven Severin at a Roxy Music gig, the pair became part of what the press dubbed “the Bromley contingent,” which turned up en masse to attend early Sex Pistols gigs and also helped cause the biggest stink in TV history when they appeared alongside the iconic British punk band on Today.
From the point where this show’s presenter Bill Grundy flirted with Siouxsie – aged 19 at the time – chaos ensued.
Siouxsie & The Banshees’ The Rapture reissue is out now via USM.
find your sonic euphoria with 'the rapture'!
^Discounts apply to previous ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. As we negotiate, products will likely have been sold below ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. Prices may differ at airport stores.
