THE THE - SOUL MINING @ 40

 

Released on October 21st, 1983, "Soul Mining," The The's debut album, celebrates its 40th anniversary today. Although Matt Johnson had released a solo album in 1981 that eventually became part of The The's discography, "Soul Mining" remains his formal debut and includes some of his most memorable and iconic songs.

The The began gaining momentum in late 1982 with the release of the single "Uncertain Smile," followed by "Perfect" in early 1983. Both songs gained significant popularity on underground dance floors on both sides of the Atlantic. By the time the album was ready for release, Johnson had cultivated a substantial audience for his work. Initially, Johnson signed with CBS Records after a bidding war, but his relationship with the label soured after the New York recording sessions, which produced the two singles, floundered due to conflicts with producer Mike Thorne. Johnson then relocated back to the UK and switched signed to Some Bizzare & Epic Records.

The initial UK recording sessions aimed to revive Johnson's concept for the album, tentatively titled "The Pornography of Despair." However, those sessions did not meet with Matt's satisfaction, leading him to abandon his plans and start the album from scratch. He renamed the project "Soul Mining" and composed a mostly new set of songs. These were demoed with Johnson using a four-track porta-studio, with Matt handling vocals, guitar, keyboards, and a drum machine. When it came to assembling studio musicians for recording, The The used a residency of live performances at the Marquee club in central London as an audition for potential contributors. From these events, Johnson found talents like Orange Juice drummer Zeke Manyika, DIY synthesizer pioneer Thomas Leer, and the experimental Australian musician Jim Thirlwell, credited on the album under one of his early aliases, "Frank Want." Thirlwell would later achieve significant success with his "Foetus" project, also signed to Stevo's label. The re-recorded version of "Uncertain Smile" replaced the sax solo with a piano solo performed by Jools Holland, who delivered the performance in a single take after only a brief listen to part of the backing track.

For the release of the album, Johnson's brother Andrew contributed another of his paintings, which had also been used for both the "Uncertain Smile" and "Perfect" single covers. Later reissues of the album substituted a photo of Matt on the cover. Album sales were somewhat modest at first, but it has remained a consistent seller over the years and has since achieved gold record status. The critical response to the album was decidedly positive, with Johnson's lyrical complexity and emotional depth well appreciated compared to the banal material that dominated the pop charts of the day.