The Absence Of A Canary

For the first release on their new reissues-focussed sub-label Ice Machine, Suction Records look backwards – both into their own history and that of minimal synth music more generally. You see, Suction previously put out an edition of Ceramic Hello’s 1981 LP The Absence Of A Canary back in 2002, but so vital a record is this that they’ve decided the album deserved a second pressing. The Absence Of A Canary is an underground classic of synthetic wave music, its lengthier tunes presenting a cold, calculated strangeness derived from Ultravox and Bauhaus while the album’s more cerebral interludes unfurl with the classical grace of Wendy Carlos. Ceramic Hello’s Brett Wickens may now be best-known as the man behind some of the iconic Factory Records sleeves, but The Absence Of A Canary is proof that his musical output is an equally crucial part of the post-punk story