The The

Review: A triumph of enigmatic melody and an enduring document of one artist's personal vision, Matt Johnson's 1983 album still sounds as unique and affecting thirty years on as it did on its release. Replete with bittersweet gems like "This Is The Day" and "Uncertain Smile", "Soul Mining" is an album of paradoxes; too deft of touch to be rock, too weighty to be pop, it defies genre, and still sounds fresh despite being a product of Thatcher's '80s. Moreover, this album, which Johnson would arguably never top, is testimony to the good cheer that can be spread by even the most perennially gloomy songsmith.