A Kiss In The Dreamhouse

A Kiss in the Dreamhouse shows Siouxsie and the Banshees back-pedalling a bit from their excellently forthright predecessor, Juju, to update the more avant-garde stylings of Kaleidoscope. This album is in fact the Banshees' crowning glory in this experimental vein.

Production and arrangements are highly varied and accomplished, and Sioux's singing by now is excellent, capable of imaginative shadings and free of its former tunelessness. Obsession is scored for chimes, overdubbed breathing, swallowed synthesizer sounds, strings, and very occasional guitar touches; this all supports a fine vocal with lyrics about the speaker's fixation on her object of desire. Green Finger is a driving, up-tempo number with Joy Division melodic bass, sparkling synthesizer touches, and wacky recorder tootlings. Painted Bird features a full helping of multi-tracked vocals propelled by a drumbeat that is alternately skittering and thumping; portions of this song suggest a nightmare version of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way. Cocoon is best characterised as mutant bopping jazz with an often breathy, cooing vocal. She's a Carnival and Slowdive suggest eccentric stabs at mainstream acceptance, The former being a comparatively gutsy and forthright rocker, the latter a violin-coloured dance beat number with hints of New Order or David Bowie that is a catchy melodic hook away from being the real thing.

LP - Remastered from the original ¼” tapes and cut at half speed at Abbey Road studios, London. Both artwork and audio have personally been overseen and orchestrated by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin.

CD - Digitally remastered and now boasts 4 bonus tracks including the epic 12" versions of Fireworks and Slowdive and the previously unreleased demo versions of Painted Bird and Cascade. It comes housed in a digipack with sleeve notes by Paul Morley.