Since its beginnings in 1978, Mute has long succeeded in releasing innovative and at the same time commercially successful music as a label in the shape of artists like Depeche Mode, Moby, New Order and Goldfrapp. In the meantime, Mute seems to be primarily focused on managing and releasing its own considerable back catalogue. Such as the 1992 album »Our Likeness« by the Japanese avant-garde/post-punk singer Phew, which they are now re-releasing. Admittedly, the backing band that Chrislo Haas (DAF, Der Plan) succeeded in enlisting for this album with Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) on guitar, Thomas Stern (Crime & The City Solution) on bass and the incomparable Jaki Liebezeit (Can) on drums, certainly makes you sit up and take notice. The album was recorded in Conny Plank’s legendary studio (Kraftwerk, Neu!, etc.) in Cologne. All the signs seem to be right – and yet, after more than 20 years, the sparks don’t quite seem to want to fly. The overproduced drums sound too outdated, the shrill, screeching guitar effects seem almost trapped in the nineties, and Phew’s experimental sound paintings sometimes seem strangely out of time, making you feel on edge without really challenging you. »Our Likeness« may have been unavailable for a long time, but this rarity doesn’t sound really contemporary, which raises the question as to which audience this re-release is meant to appeal to. Maybe Phew’s current album »New Decade«, which was also released on Mute in 2021, is worth more?
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Our Likeness
