Most fans of the dark side of alternative music will know Barry Adamson mostly for the soundscapes on the Lost Highway soundtrack. Connoisseurs will know him as bass player for Nick   Cave ’s Bad Seeds and in an earlier period of time as bass player for the new wave band Magazine. Barry Adamson also played on the first two Visage albums and worked with Pete Shelley. Hereafter Barry Adamson joined the Bad Seeds on the legendary Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums From Her to Eternity, The Firstborn is Dead, Kicking Against the Pricks, and Your Funeral, My Trial.

With his solo work Barry Adamson however entered different directions. Here the soundtrack masters such as John Barry and Ennio Morricone influenced him, supplemented with influences from electronic music, dub, jazz, funk, and soul. The atmosphere in Barry Adamson’s music often reflects the big city nightlife; as is illustrated by titles like ‘The Beaten Side of Town’, ‘Straight ‘Til Sunrise’, and ‘Shadow of Death Hotel’ on this new album titled Back to the Cat. The atmospheres on this album are more towards pop than before. It is, however, dark and orchestral pop with a completely unique signature. ‘The Beaten Side of Town’ has a dark character and brings you to the shabby parts of a city like New Orleans, but then again ‘Straight ‘Til Sunrise’ grabs back on the ‘50s and ‘60s music with Burt Bacharach as the biggest influence. ‘Shadow of a Death Hotel’ contains a touch of rock ‘n roll packaged into a grand James Bond like theme. Of course the big band horns, the jazz and the Hammond organ are all present in the sound. ‘I Could Love You’ reflects sugar sweet Motown Soul influences.

Of course, each time the dark lyrics from Adamson give the songs a weird twist, so that a mainstream feel is avoided and the dark demonic side of the party life in the big anonymous city seems to be reflected. Barry Adamson makes a little soundtrack in every song, while ingeniously addressing the imaginative potential of the listener. After the uplifting and enigmatic ‘Walk on Fire’, which merges lounge, blues, and triphop spheres into a surf jacket; ‘Flight’ hereafter recalls the spirit of Miles Davis and wraps it into gloomy triphop-ambient spheres. ‘Civilization’ leaves room for catchy gospel pop packaged into easy going swinging funk. The closing jazz and ambient inspired track ‘Psycho-Sexual’ grabs back on the dark theme of desire, envy, rage, and murder in the first track and this makes the circle round again on this epic and above all musically adventurous album of Barry Adamson.