''Come Clean'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...

. It was released on 10 March 1998 by Estupendo Records and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, and was the first Curve album to be released following their temporary split in 1994 and reformation in 1996. ''Come Clean'' marked a shift to a style more informed by

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

than Curve's earlier records. Significantly, the commercial success of and critical acclaim for ''Come Clean'' – at least relative to the reception that the group's harsher and less accessible 1993 album ''

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

'' had received – encouraged Curve to continue recording.

Musical style

Stuart Derdeyn of ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' wrote that ''Come Clean'' found Curve "updating its sound to better reflect the noise and punch of contemporary

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

''s Joshua Klein said that the band expanded on the

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

elements of their previous albums, with the music on ''Come Clean'' placing a heavier emphasis on "big beats". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' critic Chris Ott noted the album's "danceable drum loops" and "blurry, detached" vocals, as well as its influence from

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

band Portishead and the "ascendant club-

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

" sound of

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...

. According to Ott, the record forgoes the "sexual intensity" and "icy

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

guitars" of Curve's earlier work.

Release

After disbanding two years earlier, Curve reformed in 1996 and within the year announced the forthcoming release of a new album, which was tentatively titled ''Magic Music Medicine'' and set to be issued by the band's self-operated label

FatLip Recordings FatLip Recordings was an independent record label owned, operated and releasing music by the band Curve. History The label was only active when Curve wished to release music independently. It was first used in 1996. Curve had recently reunited, ...

. In 1997, Curve signed to

, which ultimately issued the album, newly titled ''Come Clean''. ''Come Clean'' was released by Estupendo Records and its parent label Universal on 10 March 1998 in the United States, and on 18 May 1998 in the United Kingdom. The lead single from ''Come Clean'', " Chinese Burn", was released on 18 November 1997. "

Coming Up Roses Come may refer to: *Comè, a city and commune in Benin *Come (Tenos), an ancient town on Tenos island, Greece Music *Come (American band), an American indie rock band formed in 1990 *Come (UK band), a British noise project founded in 1979 **Come ...

" was issued as the album's second single on 4 May 1998.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Curve *

Dean Garcia Dean Garcia (born 3 May 1958) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician, best known as a member of the alternative rock duo Curve from 1990 to 2005. He also released solo work and collaborated with many other artists. Biography Garcia was ...

– bass, drums, guitar, keyboard and electronics programming *

Toni Halliday Antoinette "Toni" Halliday (born 5 July 1964) is an English musician best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist, and occasional guitarist of the alternative rock band Curve, along with Dean Garcia. She was also a member of the bands Photofitz ...

– vocals, guitar, sound effects Additional musicians *

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

– electronics on "Dirty High" * Sally Herbert – violin on "Something Familiar" and "Forgotten Sanity" *

Ben Hillier Ben Hillier is an English songwriter and pop-rock record producer who is part of the creative team 140 dB. He produced the notable albums ''Playing the Angel'', ''Sounds of the Universe'' and ''Delta Machine'' by Depeche Mode, ''Think Tank' ...

– additional drum programming on "Killer Baby" *

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...

– guitar on "Coming Up Roses", "Killer Baby", "Forgotten Sanity", "Cotton Candy" and "Recovery" *

Toshio Nakanishi , also known by the pseudonyms Tycoon To$h or Typhoom Tosh, was a Japanese musician and graphic designer who was best known as the founding member of new wave band Plastics in 1976. He was initially a part of the technopop fever in Japan and la ...

– electronics on "Alligators Getting Up" and "Killer Baby" *

Steve Osborne Stephen John "Steve" Osborne (born 1963) is a British record producer, living in Bath, England. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Suede, the B-52s, A-ha, New Order, Elbow, U2, Happy Mondays, Placebo, Gregory Porter, Do ...

–

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

on "Chinese Burn", "Coming Up Roses" and "Dirty High" * Tim Simenon – arrangement *

Óskar Páll Sveinsson Óskar Páll Sveinsson (also known as Oscar Paul) is an Icelandic producer, sound engineer and programmer. He co-wrote and produced " Is it True?", the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. It was sung by the Icelan ...

–

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

on "Cotton Candy" *

Justin Welch Justin Steven Welch (born 4 December 1972) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Elastica, Suede, and later the drummer in Lush. Biography Welch moved to London in his late teens and studied at London's Drumtech drum school. H ...

– drums on "Something Familiar" Production * James Brown – mixing (assistant) * Curve –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, mixing on "Come Clean" * Ben Hillier – engineering on "Chinese Burn", "Coming Up Roses" and "Dirty High", mixing (assistant) on "Chinese Burn" * Graham Hog – mixing (assistant) * Guy Massey – mixing (assistant) * Kevin Metcalfe – mastering * Alan Moulder – mixing * Darren Nash – engineering (assistant) on "Chinese Burn", "Coming Up Roses" and "Dirty High", mixing (assistant) on "Chinese Burn" * Steve Osborne – production and transferral on "Chinese Burn", "Coming Up Roses" and "Dirty High", mixing on "Chinese Burn" * Tom Rixton – engineering (assistant), sorting * Dave Russell – mixing (assistant) * Tim Simenon – production, mixing, transferral * Óskar Páll Sveinsson – engineering,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

Design * Brooksy – cover photography * Richard Harrington –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, design * Anna Pretty – metal brand creation

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1998 albums Curve (band) albums Albums produced by Tim Simenon Albums produced by Steve Osborne Universal Records albums