Soul Mining is the debut studio album by the English post-punk and synth-pop band [[]]. Matt Johnson, the lead singer and songwriter behind , began recording the album in New York City, after a bidding war between major record labels resulted in the group signing a recording contract with CBS Records. The initial recording sessions were aborted after the album's first two singles, however, and Johnson returned to London where he wrote and recorded the rest of the record. Musically, Soul Mining is a post-punk and synth-pop album with influences of the early 1980s New York club scene, while Johnson's lyrics focus on relationship insecurities and social alienation, with imagery derived from dreams.
Soul Mining was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 1983 on Some Bizzare Records/Epic Records and included versions of the singles "Uncertain Smile", "Perfect", and "This Is the Day". Although the album received positive reviews, its initial sales were modest, reaching number 27 in the UK and charting in a number of other countries, but in 2019 the album was certified gold in the UK. Soul Mining was reissued in June 2014 as a two-disc 30th anniversary deluxe version on vinyl, attracting retrospective reviews which universally praised the record, with critics describing it as both Johnson's best work and one of the best albums of the 1980s.
Background and initial New York recording sessions
Following the release of Burning Blue Soul (1981), Matt Johnson had started work on a follow-up, provisionally titled The Pornography of Despair. Although Burning Blue Soul had been released on the 4AD record label, had also released a one-off single, "Cold Spell Ahead", in 1981 on the Some Bizarre label run by Stevo, and major record labels were expressing interest in Some Bizarre's acts following the worldwide success of synth-pop duo Soft Cell.
Johnson and Stevo decided that the best way to achieve commercial success was to record a new version of "Cold Spell Ahead". Stevo verbally agreed a singles deal with London Records, and in May 1982 the label sent Johnson to New York to record the new version of the song, now retitled "Uncertain Smile", with Soft Cell's producer Mike Thorne at Mediasound Studios. The song followed Johnson's original demo, with a Roland TR-808 providing the drumbeat and Johnson and Thorne playing guitars, bass and synthesizers. While in New York, Johnson visited Manny's Music store on West 48th Street, and was fascinated by a toy xylimba that he saw there. He bought the instrument and returned to the studio with it, using it to create an intro for "Uncertain Smile". On the recommendation of a friend Thorne also brought in Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns to play flute and alto saxophone on the record.
When Stevo took the finished song back to London he reneged on his verbal agreement with London Records and initiated a bidding war, eventually won by CBS Records, and were signed to CBS's Epic imprint. The single became 's first release on Epic, released in October 1982 and reaching number 68 on the UK singles chart. Thorne was unhappy at the underhand way in which the deal had been conducted. With his new-found wealth Johnson was keen to experience what New York had to offer, disappearing from the studio to explore the Lower East Side and take drugs, which left him in an unfit state to record. Johnson and Stevo also decided to make a road trip to Detroit, with Johnson saying that he had felt compelled to visit the city during the recording of "Perfect" because he felt he was being inauthentic singing the song's lyrics about down-and-outs unless he had experienced it personally, and that "although I hadn't lived there, I knew that I'd seen more than virtually any of the other bands in the charts so I had no reason to feel bad about it".
The relationship between Thorne and the visitors deteriorated as a result of Johnson and Stevo's actions, and disagreements over the songs' production. Thorne wanted to use his new Synclavier unit, but Johnson preferred the sounds of his far cheaper Omnichord. Eventually a mutual decision was made to abandon the recordings, and Johnson returned to London in November.
The original New York-produced 7" single versions of "Uncertain Smile" and "Perfect" were included on 's greatest hits album 45 RPM: The Singles of The The in 2002, while the two 12" versions were included on the second disc of the 30th anniversary reissue of Soul Mining in 2014.
Composition and themes
Having returned to London with only two songs, CBS asked Johnson if he had any other material that could be used. In response, Johnson began to re-record his unfinished album The Pornography of Despair, but he was not happy with the new versions of the songs, feeling that they lacked impact. He abandoned the album entirely, and decided to write a new album from scratch instead, with "The Sinking Feeling" being the only song retained from The Pornography of Despair.
Recording
Following their return to London from New York, Stevo recommended that Johnson should contact Thorne's former engineer Paul Hardiman to act as his new producer. Hardiman's first job for Johnson was to remix "Perfect" for release as a single, keeping only Johansen's harmonica from the original New York recording. The remix was done on Christmas Eve 1982, which Hardiman recalled had caused some friction with his wife. The remixed version of "Perfect" was released as a single on 11 February 1983, reaching number 79 in the UK.
Artwork
As with many of 's early albums and singles, the original cover artwork was created by Matt Johnson's brother Andrew, aka "Andy Dog". The UK album cover featured a painting of one of the wives of Fela Kuti smoking a joint, adapted from a photograph Andy had seen in The Face. but like the previous singles, it performed poorly in the UK, peaking at number 71. The album was released with several different track listings, depending on the format and the territory. In the UK and Europe the album had seven tracks and ended with "Giant", as Johnson had intended. Early pressings of the original UK vinyl album included a free 12" single of an extended remix of "Perfect", with "Fruit of the Heart" and "Soup of Mixed Emotions" as the B-sides (catalogue number XPR 1250). However, in the US a record company executive decided that seven songs was not enough for a full album, and a re-recorded version of "Perfect" was added to the US version of Soul Mining, as well as some versions of the Canadian release, much to Johnson's annoyance. This extra track was also included on the album when it was first released on CD in June 1987, in both the UK and the US. In Australia and New Zealand, the album contained nine tracks, with "Fruit of the Heart" closing side one and "Perfect" at the end of side two. It was not until 's early albums were remastered and reissued in 2002 that Johnson finally succeeded in having Soul Mining reissued without "Perfect", as originally intended.
The US cassette version also included extended mixes of "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" and "This Is the Day" added on to the end of each side of the cassette.
The UK cassette version contained the original seven-track album on side one, with "Perfect" plus five other extra tracks on side two. It is generally assumed that these tracks had originally been recorded for the unreleased project The Pornography of Despair. The extra tracks are "Three Orange Kisses from Kazan", "The Nature of Virtue", "Mental Healing Process", "Waitin' for the Upturn", and "Fruit of the Heart". The tracks were all later used as B-sides on various single and promo releases, or on film/soundtrack compilation releases, although "Waitin' for the Upturn" is the only track never to have appeared on CD.
The 2014 2-LP "30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" box set of Soul Mining includes an authentic vinyl reproduction of the 1983 release, with audio remastered in 2013 (overseen by Matt Johnson at Abbey Road Studios), and is expanded with a second vinyl containing alternate versions, 12"'s and remixes, intended to complete a "purist album experience".