''Perspex Island'' is the ninth
studio album by English musician
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 fifth with backing band,
The Egyptians, released on
Go! Discs
Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...
in 1991.
The group's third under their contract to
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
, it contains eleven Hitchcock originals. It was recorded in Los Angeles in 1991, and features guest appearances by Hitchcock fans
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.
Pos ...
and
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...
of
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
The associated single "So You Think You're in Love" peaked #1 on the
Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S.
The album carries a Hitchcock oil painting on its front cover, depicting the mythological figure
Thoth
Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...
, which The Egyptians had once used as a group logo.
Reception
''Perspex Island'' received generally positive reviews, though it was not as well-received as many of Hitchcock's other albums. Stewart Mason's review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
stated the "glossy sound doesn't obscure the typically high quality of Hitchcock's songs, and there are times... where the two complement each other perfectly".
In a 1991 review for ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'',
Gina Arnold
Gina Arnold is an American author, music critic, and academic. A lecturer at Stanford University and an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, she is the author of four books, including the 33⅓ book on Liz Phair, ''Exile in Guyv ...
wrote that "Longtime fans... may find they miss Hitchcock's impenetrable surreal lyrics, which always seemed to mask deep and moving insights", though she named "Ultra Unbelievable Love" and "Earthly Paradise" as highlights.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Robyn Hitchcock.
#"Oceanside" – 3:48
#"So You Think You're in Love" – 2:34
#"Birds in Perspex" – 3:54
#"Ultra Unbelievable Love" – 3:49
#"Vegetation and Dimes" – 4:58
#"Lysander" – 4:36
#"Child of the Universe" – 4:21
#"She Doesn't Exist" – 4:25
#"Ride" – 5:04
#"If You Go Away" – 4:55
#"Earthly Paradise" – 6:34
References
{{Authority control
1991 albums
Robyn Hitchcock albums
Albums produced by Paul Fox (record producer)
Go! Discs albums