The Madness Of Lene Lovich

Over the weekend I re-discovered the madness of Lene Lovich in all her glory. I saw Lene play live 30 years ago on the Be Stiff Tour and bought her singles and first album 'Stateless' on picture vinyl. She was an alien from some Slavik hinterland (in reality, born in Detroit and grew up in Hull) with masses of hair and a shrieking, birdlike voice and pounded out some fabulous tunes just right for the post-punk new wave and the birth of goth. She had a few hits, released a few albums and then dropped from sight - or at least from my sight.

I've always had a soft spot for Lene and got her 'best of' when it was released on CD. I play it on my iPod when the mood falls on me and sing along to classics like 'Home' ('Home is where the heart is ... let's go to your place'), 'Say When', 'Lucky Number' and 'I Think We're Alone Now'.

Somehow I came across a reference to Lene during an aimless browse at the weekend and realised she'd released a new album after being quiet for a decade or so. I had to know more. It's not a new album, so much as her latest album - its from 2005 and seems to only be available from the lovely CD Baby. And from iTunes (Amazon, eat your heart out for now having Lene!).

'Shadows And Dust' has ten tracks of pounding electronica, densely packed with layers of sound and Lene's unique voice and words on top. The first song, 'Craze' opens with her almost sounding like a relaxed Siouxsie before she explodes in sound and the Lene of old is right there swooping up and down the scale again. Songs like 'Remember', 'Sanctuary', 'Gothica' and the mad 'The Wicked Witch' all have that old magic. Marvellous stuff!

It made me hunt out some other, older tracks, on iTunes and have a Lene download frenzy (all quickly burned to CD after last week's problems). I've now discovered some more gems to add to the collection.

I saw Lene in November 2006 and, in fact, walked within a few feet of her having no idea who she was (to my shame). She sang 'Delilah' with The Dresden Dolls at their Roundhouse show that was filmed for DVD.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a Lene celebration show to celebrate 30 years of 'Stateless'?