Out of print for over a decade, Una Baines’ one-and-done stint as The Fates is back in the world and to our attention courtesy of dons of the archival, Superior Viaduct. Prior to founding the group, Baines had served in both the Blue Orchids and The Fall, but perhaps more significantly, had also toured with Nico during the early 80s - you can hear her synth playing on a somewhat mythical live performance in Denmark from 1982. The influence of such an uncompromising voice as Nico is written all over Furia, a beguiling, sometimes political, often times spooky concoction of neo-folk, proto-indiepop, post-punk magpie instinct and 60s pop shimmer, a Laurel Canyon-gone-loco art-folk cult affair with a strange sense of fading innocence. If that’s not exclusively Nico coded, think of it also as a soma-dosed Roches brought up on the Raincoats, beautiful songs skewed that little bit west. Even with Nico in the vicinity, this is a very un-Manchester sounding record, seemingly broadcast from an entirely different time and locale, likely across the water and 15 years or so back. That dissonance is probably why Furia has aged so well, one of those out-of-sync records that makes more sense at a distance, some odd trick of the light that’s now finally aligned. Taboo, the label that originally released it, did nothing else after this. It’s hard to follow something so singular.
FFO: Nico and the Faction, The Roches, US 69, The Raincoats
