[Today: Requiem for a supernova...]
Every review of Closer inevitably begins with a young man swinging at the end of a noose. The date is May 18, 1980 and the young man is Ian Curtis, the 23 year-old lead singer for post-punk heroes Joy Division. Curtis had been dogged by personal demons – including a recent onset of severe epilepsy and a failing marriage – but his suicide was unexpected, coming as it did on the eve of Joy Division’s first tour of the United States.
Released posthumously, Closer plays out like a macabre letter from beyond the grave, and seems to contain many clues to Curtis’ fragile state of mind. Song titles like ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ ‘Isolation’ and ‘The Eternal’ tell the story in shorthand, but Curtis’ vocals are saturated with a grim gravity that must be heard to be believed. Every phrase here seems carved out of the cold granite of tombstones, and he sings like a man who isn’t long for the world.
Watching him dance on stage in a grainy YouTube clip, it’s easy to detect the alien quality that made Ian Curtis such an interesting artist. He moves with the herky-jerky gyrations of a mating insect and sings from the bottom of a well of despair. In his bearing, his vocals, and his untimely death, he gave the impression of a man far removed from polite society, fated to live in dark shadows, even as his star burned brightly and carried him away.
Listen: Atrocity Exhibition
Listen: Isolation
Tags: Closer, Ian Curtis, Joy Division
21 January 2010 at 12:34 pm |
[...] on their first tour of the United States – and release their would-be breakthrough album Closer – when lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide in May of 1980. Remaining band members [...]
20 March 2010 at 2:50 pm |
Hard to believe 30 years have passed since that man ended his life. Your blog’s a trip to read, as it’s been giving me some nice flashbacks. Great work, mate.