Sunday Afternoon Listening Cafe #13

Elemental, The Fixx

For lucky 13, I knew I wanted to do a Fixx album but it’s so hard to choose as there’s so many great ones. However, I’ve been listening to this one a lot the last few days and as a bonus, I doubt too many people have heard it. You may have heard Two Different Views, the single off the album. Let me introduce you to the rest.

This is their seventh studio album and was released in 1998 on the indie label CMC International, who were giving haven at the time to a lot of 80s rock and metal artists getting lost in the alternative/grunge movement. The band is jointly credited in writing the songs and are also credited with producing alongside Martin Rex, who had done a couple of songs with them in the past and would go on to produce their next albums with them until he died of cancer in 2005.

Off the top, the lyrics are brilliant. I could go on for days about the lyrics but instead I’m going to point you to where you can find them. Trust me, reading the lyrics while listening is so worthwhile. There’s so much insight and turn of phrases that are exquisite. The band is its usual tight self and the sound is an evolution of the New Wave/post Punk of their early albums.

(And I see that not all the tracks are available in the Spotify playlist. The band doesn’t have the album up on YouTube either. So here’s a YouTube playlist that has all the songs uploaded by a fan.)

In brief, Two Different Views is about negotiating different viewpoints. Going Without is about a man who is trying to get past his demons. Is That It? is looking at a relationship on the downswing.

After that we get to the block of my best loved songs on the album. Happy Landings is about making a fresh start and has one of my favourite lyrics ever:

It takes more than a full tank of gas
To drive away from the past

Silent House is someone sitting with the ghosts of their past. Another great lyric:

If there's a lesson, it's only me that sets me free

Fatal Shore is about how humans have destroyed each other and the earth. The song opens:

So we reached the fatal shore
Some had gained while some had suffered
Though our quest was for always more
We only took from those we conquered

Ocean Blue is about finding peace being by water and feeling how water connects to us.

The final 3 tracks are weaker but they still have something for the listener. You Know Me is about attempting to make a romantic connection. We Once Held Hands talks about how humanity’s brotherhood has been torn apart by greed. And Life’s What Killing Me is what it says on the tin - a man who can’t cope with the world.

It’s a shame the album isn’t easily available. Hope you enjoy today’s café just the same!