''Element of Light'' is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

and his second with his backing band, the Egyptians. It was released in 1986. Most of the album was recorded at Alaska Studios and Berry Street, but two tracks, "The President" and "Lady Waters & The Hooded One", were live recordings made for the BBC, with overdubs recorded on BBC Mobile and at Alaska. The album title derives from the song "Airscape", which has been cited several times by Hitchcock as a favourite among his own compositions, and a live rendition was tagged on to later CD editions. "Airscape" concerns his "favourite beach", Compton Beach on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, which also provided a backdrop for the cover shots. He was inspired by learning about the erosion of the cliffs, and imagining the ghosts of people who had walked the cliffs centuries ago now suspended over the water. The song "The President" makes reference to Ronald Reagan's visit to Bitburg, where members of the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

were buried. The song "Raymond Chandler Evening" is an homage to the world-weary novels of mystery writer Raymond Chandler. The title was later used as the name for a sidequest in ''

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'' also homaging the author. Originally running to ten songs, the first CD edition included extra bonus tracks, all taken from singles, while later pressings have added a further six, including the comedic spoken number "The Can Opener". The album was produced by Robyn and Andy Metcalfe, with input from long-time colleague Pat Collier.

Track listing

All songs written by

Side one

#"If You Were a Priest" #"Winchester" #"Somewhere Apart" #"Ted, Woody and Junior" #"The President"

Side two

#"Raymond Chandler Evening" #"Bass" #"Airscape" #"Never Stop Bleeding" #"Lady Waters & the Hooded One"

Midnight CD bonus tracks

#"The Black Crow Knows" #"The Crawling" #"The Leopard" #"Tell Me About Your Drugs"

Rhino CD reissue bonus tracks

#"The Black Crow Knows" #"The Crawling" #"The Leopard" #"Tell Me About Your Drugs" #"The Can Opener" #"Raymond Chandler Evening" (Demo) #"The President" (Demo) #"If You Were a Priest" (Demo) #"Airscape" (Live) #"The Leopard" (Demo)

YepRoc CD reissue bonus tracks

#"The Black Crow Knows" #"The Crawling" #"The Leopard" #"Tell Me About Your Drugs" #"Sprinkling Dots" #"Upside Down Church Blues" #"Into It" #"Neck" #"Bass" (Demo) #"Lady Waters Mix 1" ("Lady Waters & The Hooded One" demo)"

Personnel

– guitar, vocals,

upright piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Somewhere Apart" *

Andy Metcalfe Andy Metcalfe (born 3 March 1956, Bristol, England) is an English bassist, keyboardist and producer, who played mainly with The Soft Boys (with Robyn Hitchcock, 1976–1979), Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians (1984–1994), and with Squeeze of ...

– bass, vocals on "If You Were A Priest", "Winchester", "Ted, Woody and Junior", "Bass", "Airscape", "Lady Waters & the Hooded One", "The Black Crow Knows", "Tell Me About Your Drugs", piano on "Winchester", "Ted, Woody and Junior", bass keyboard on "Raymond Chandler Evening", keyboards on "Never Stop Bleeding" and "The Leopard", drums on "Tell Me About Your Drugs" *Morris Windsor – drums, vocals on "Ted, Woody and Junior", "Bass", "Airscape" and "Lady Waters & the Hooded One" *Roger Jackson – keyboards,

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

on "Airscape", vocals on "Lady Waters & the Hooded One"

References

{{Authority control Robyn Hitchcock albums 1986 albums Albums produced by Robyn Hitchcock