'Translucence' is Poly Styrene's solo album from 1980, a hard to find gem that I bought through eBay. Poly had come through the punk years, X-Ray Spex had split and what does she do next? She goes in a very different direction to the Spex and delivers 'Translucence', an album of 12 songs including a new, more relaxed take on the Spex song 'Age'.My first impression was that it was reminiscent of calypso music, very Carribean sounding with slight hints of reggae, a flute replacing the saxophone on most tracks giving them a very different sound. A much gentler record than 'Germfree Adolescents', some songs almost hint at the ambient music she recorded in the '90s. Until you listen to the lyrics and realise that with a different arrangement, a rawer sound and a blaring sax, then most of these songs could've been the Spex's second album. Poly is still there but she's moved on.
The single from the album, 'Talk In Toytown', seemingly about media speculation about her in post-Spex days, stands out as going into early-'80s electronic territory and 'Age', with it's blatant sax, seems to hark back to the Spex. Other than those two tracks the rest of the album experiments with her new sound. And I like it. It may just be the newness of the music but some of these songs are gems.The sound is quite 'thin', not the walls of sound we're used to these days, so it doesn't really work on my iPod since it's drowned out by background noise, but Poly is in there and she has a good voice in gentler mode. Favourite tracks at the moment are the electronic 'Talk In Toytown', the funky 'Skydive' with the '80s sax, the ambient calypso of 'Essence' (which has a vocal lilt that Boy George inherited), the reggae of 'Hip City Hip' and the magnificent mellowed-out 'Age' (which is also available on 'Let's Submerge', the latest Spex compilation).
I like this record but I want a properly re-mastered version on CD please.
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