MICK KARN (JAPAN) : SENSITIVE [VIRGIN - ESP 1982] 7'

Mick Karn  "Sensitive"  single 7"

(Virgin)  1982  made in Spain

cat. num. B 103 964

#synth pop  #japan  #new wave

Multi-instrumentalist Mick Karn's first album as a solo artist reveals the significant degree to which Japan's sound was shaped by his bass playing. The presence of Japan drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri, combined with Karn's own singing style (which owes a heavy debt to former bandmate David Sylvian), only strengthens the impression that this is a Japan album in all but name. While Karn plays various woodwinds and keyboards as well as bass on Titles, it is his amazingly agile and creative fretless bass playing that holds center stage, even when he is singing. Lyrically, the songs are mostly unremarkable, though "Sensitive" features both a lovely melodic hook and the recurring couplet "If you shook their hands and stabbed them/Maybe they'd become sensitive."

Also includes the unrealeased track "The Sound Of Waves"