Paul Haig "At Twilight" TWI 1154 CD

At Twilight by Paul Haig is out now on deluxe 2xCD. 30 classic tracks including singles, key album tracks, electro collaborations (New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, Alan Rankine, Lil Louis, Mantronix) and an entire 'lost' studio album from 1984.

"Two CDs jammed packed with some of the most rhythmic, melodic and influential synth-pop this side of Brussels. What's not to like? Actually, nothing. At Twilight collects Haig's best songs (cunningly, punningly titled Twilights) and his 'lost' album from 1984 which should have followed his Rhythm Of Life debut. Oh and a few extras to keep fans happy. Beginning with early scant-electro pop such as Haig's reading of Sly Stone's Running Away, early single Justice, prime album cut Adoration and his only Top 75 hit Heaven Sent, the first disc rounds off key tracks from the 80s right up until the era when dance-legends tweaked remixes out of his catalogue - Lil Louis on My Kind, and Mantronik on Flight X. But perhaps it's the mid-80s period in-between that reveals Paul Haig's seemingly limitless songwriting talents. The Warp Of Pure Fun drew contributions from New Order's Bernard Sumner, ACR's Donald Johnson, The Associates' Alan Rankine and an enviable band of session musicians who added fairy dust to key material such as Love Eternal, The Only Truth and Big Blue World. Various versions make up the second disc, but the best were recorded for the unreleased second album, represented here in full. There's even an unheard song in the form of All Our Love, a surprisingly commercial sub-ballad that has the deftest of key changes and a nuance often found in Haig's repertoire, yet seldom found anywhere else. Of the extras here, Change Of Heart, recorded for an aborted dance mix project, is a pointer to where Haig was destined for in later years - pin-sharp, almost brutalist, pop that was to be cruelly ignored by most, apart from the thousands who preferred this to Nik Kershaw, Howard Jones and Thomas Dolby. How he wasn't a major star remains something of a travesty, although Haig himself never seemed unduly worried. One helluva picture, and great value with 30 tracks. You must get this" (Flipside, 1/2014)