A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band's work, Metamatic was purely electronic in sound.
The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
Foxx's solo debut after leaving Ultravox!, Metamatic, achieves the same emotional transcendence as his previous group's early highlight, Systems of Romance, despite a new reliance not just on synthesizers, but on a musical framework dependent on them.
On Metamatic, Foxx cultivates a curious air of disinterest that never seems truly bored, but is much more extreme than even his unarguably distant vocal style for Ultravox!. It holds up as one of the peaks of the early-'80s fascination with emotionless, Kraftwerk-inspired synth pop.
Metamatic was recorded at Pathway, a small eight-track studio in Islington, and was engineered by Gareth Jones.
Foxx's electronic equipment included ARP Odyssey, an Elka 'String Machine' and a Roland CR-78 drum machine.
Several of the synth parts were played by John Wesley-Barker.
Six of the tracks referenced automobiles or motorways, most obviously "Underpass" and "No-One Driving". Foxx re-worked the former track as "Overpass" on the live Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour in 1998; he also re-used its distinctive riff for the track "Invisible Women" on 2001's Pleasures of Electricity with Louis Gordon.
The song "He's a Liquid" was influenced by a still from a Japanese horror film depicting a suit draped across a chair in such a way as to suggest that the wearer had liquified; Foxx's lyrics also alluded to the 'fluidity' of human relationships.
The final track, "Touch and Go", included psychedelic aspects.
Although Foxx had performed "He's a Liquid" and "Touch and Go" live with Ultravox before leaving the band in 1979, the band was not credited for them on Metamatic.
When Ultravox adapted the tune from "Touch and Go" for the song "Mr. X" on Vienna (1980), their first album following Foxx's departure, Foxx was not credited.
Side A
A1. Plaza (3:55)
A2. He’s A Liquid (3:01)
A3. Underpass (3:56)
A4. Metal Beat (3:00)
A5. No-One Driving (3:47)
Side B
B1. A New Kind Of Man (3:42)
B2. Blurred Girl (4:19)
B3. 030 (3:18)
B4. Tidal Wave (4:17)
B5. Touch And Go (5:36)
Personnel
- John Foxx – vocals, rhythm machines (mainly Roland CR-78), synthesizers
- John Wesley Barker – additional synthesizers
- Jake Durant – additional bass
- Gareth Jones – engineer
Notes
Release: 1980
Format: LP
Genre: Electronic, Synth-pop
Label: Virgin Records
Catalog# 201434
Vinyl: Very Good Plus
Cover: Very Good Plus
Prijs: €10,00
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