Lloyd Cole

Lloyd Cole builds his music on sharply intelligent words, an openly sentimental outlook, and a gift for creating both straightforward and elaborate melodies, giving him a firm platform for repeated moves across styles. He launched his path by leading the Commotions and issuing some of the decade’s most memorable jangle pop numbers, including “Perfect Skin” and the defining Rattlesnakes album, before beginning a solo phase that never settled in one genre. Straightforward rock marked his self-titled 1990 release, while 1991’s Don’t Get Weird on Me Babe brought richly arranged pop; 1995’s Love Story brought another jangle pop turn, after which he devoted time to country rock-inspired work before turning to electronics for duets with Hans-Joachim Roedelius on 2013’s Selected Studies, Vol. 1. Later albums that followed this electronic turn, such as 2023’s On Pain, combined the inviting songcraft of earlier efforts with the cooler surfaces of electronic pop.

Born January 31, 1961 in Buxton, England, Lloyd Cole started the Commotions in 1982 during his philosophy studies at the University of Glasgow. The ensemble began as an expansive soul outfit before shrinking to a five-piece that featured keyboardist Blair Cowan, guitarist Neil Clark, bassist Lawrence Donegan, and drummer Stephen Irvine. Their clean sound, paired with the strength of Cole’s writing, secured a Polydor deal, and the group issued Rattlesnakes in 1984—a dry, sincere set of ringing guitar pop filled with nods to Jules et Jim, Simone de Beauvoir, Norman Mailer, and On the Waterfront. “Perfect Skin,” the luminous opening single, reached the U.K. Top 30. Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer produced 1985’s Easy Pieces, a smoother album that contained the singles “Lost Weekend” and “Brand New Friend,” both of which received notable radio exposure.

After 1987’s Mainstream, Cole dissolved the Commotions and relocated to New York City to pursue work as a solo artist. There he partnered with session drummer Fred Maher, who brought in ex-Voidoid Robert Quine on guitar and rising singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet on bass for the 1990 self-titled debut, which largely continued the direction established with the Commotions. Don’t Get Weird on Me Babe, issued in 1991, signaled a clear departure, devoting its second half to expansive, string-laden ballads scored by Paul Buckmaster, whose credits include work with Elton John. Refusing to remain fixed to a single approach, Cole joined producer Adam Peters for 1993’s Bad Vibes, a thematically somber album whose sound attempted to fuse psychedelia with electronics. The record proved too adventurous for portions of his audience, and perhaps for Cole himself, prompting 1995’s Love Story to revisit the leaner, folk-rock-leaning style associated with the Commotions; the album also reunited him with the band’s guitarist, Neil Clark. It further placed Cole on Top of the Pops when the twangy ballad “Like Lovers Do” achieved unexpected chart success in the U.K.

Following the album’s appearance, Cole assembled a new ensemble called the Negatives alongside guitarists Jill Sobule and Michael Kotch, bassist Dave Derby, and drummer Rafa Maciejak. The group performed regularly in New York City for several years before releasing a self-titled album in 2001 that carried production credits from Stephen Street, known for his work with the Smiths. In 2002 Cole issued two lower-profile solo collections: Etc (Lost Songs, Tunes 1996-2000) and the wholly instrumental, electronic Plastic Wood.

Cole reemerged as a solo performer in 2004 with the restrained Music in a Foreign Language. Recorded mostly at home on his computer, the set included a version of Nick Cave’s “People Ain’t No Good.” Anti-Depressant arrived in 2006 and found Cole addressing both the gains and losses tied to growing older; Sobule, Derby, and former Commotions member Neil Clark all appeared on it. Derby co-produced 2010’s Broken Record, an energetic, country rock-leaning effort that included contributions from Joan Wasser and Fred Maher. The 2013 album Standards was supported through fan funding and again featured Fred Maher and Matthew Sweet.

After establishing a consistent reputation as a respected singer/songwriter, Cole shifted abruptly toward electronic music. He collaborated with Krautrock figure Hans-Joachim Roedelius on 2013’s Selected Studies, Vol. 1, a set of subdued keyboard duets, and in 2014 assembled Kollektion 02, a retrospective overview of Roedelius’ recordings.

Cole issued the electronic album Selected Studies, Vol. 1 in March 2013 alongside Krautrock pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius. He followed those boundary-pushing projects with 1D Electronics 2012-2014, a gathering of solo modular synthesizer experiments first created for the Roedelius collaboration.

Stepping away from his expanding work as a synth practitioner, Cole devoted time to a box set containing every recording made with the Commotions. Collected Recordings appeared in 2015, after which he and his backing band the Leopards toured in support. Without pause, he released another box set in 2017, In New York: Collected Recordings 1988-1996, comprising four albums, a complete disc of unreleased material, and a disc of demos. Returning to fresh material, Cole located a midpoint between his customary singer/songwriter method and his expanding electronic catalog with 2019’s Guesswork, a collection performed almost entirely on synthesizers, though occasional guitars supplied by Cole and longtime associate Clark still surface. Prevented from live performances by COVID-19, he spent a week in June 2020 generating electronic pieces on a modular synthesizer and a random digital noise generator known as an Ieaskul F. Mobenthey Dunst. The results appeared as Dunst in October. Cole’s 2023 album On Pain moved nearer to synth pop, with most tracks constructed from minimal synths, processed vocals, and lyrics centered on impressions rather than his characteristic elegant narratives. Former Commotions Clark and Cowan also contributed, co-writing four of the songs. Cole handled the majority of the recording himself in his home studio before completing and mixing the album with producer Chris Hughes in England.