I'm one of a dying breed. Us remaining Thethe fans are dwindling fast. Matt's output over the last few years has been pretty non existent. Infact he seems to have vanished. Last heard living the life of a recluse in Switzerland somewhere. Over the last couple of years I have created at least 5 new Thethe fans. This needs to increase. His work cannot be forgotten about.
Anyway…
I could and probably will waffle on for an age about them. The word 'them' when used with Thethe has always troubled me. Thethe for all intents and purposes is the musical outlet of one man, namely Matt Johnson. There is no band at all. He plays nearly all instruments on ALL his albums, writes ALL the music and lyrics. Yeah sure he has got a band together when touring and there was that time he enlisted a few buddies (Johnny Marr being one of note) to help him out. But that was for a relative short time. But Thethe are A ONE MAN BAND.
It also troubles me when I hear Thethe being pigeonholed into the genre Electro Pop. Yeah, SOUL MINING can easily fit into that category and I'm happy for it to be there. But… that is the only Thethe album (out of 7) that could fit into that genre. The rest are… shit I'm waffling, sorry!
Tese are his (imho) most important and best albums:
- SOUL MINING – It's the most easily accessible and the most poignant. Matt was obviously very troubled during writing this album. It is littered with stories of a lack of self worth, zero confidence and personal torture. Matt is in a world of pain. This isn't your usual 'lost love or troubled relationship' fayre.
- INFECTED – This album followed SOUL MINING but is far far removed from it. This is an aggressive political look at Thatcher Britain during 1986. It was an incredibly inventive album for it's time. Pompous and OTT, Matt never lets up on this rollercoaster ride from start to finish.
- DUSK – A stripped down bare bones album that once again looks at the soul of Matt Johnson. A return to form after the (imho) slightly disappointing MINDBOMB. Glossy, glitzy, seedy and provocative. Matt croaks his way through some of his best tracks ever. An incredibly personal album and a fantastic statement.
Every one should own these three albums.