Third appointment dedicated to Siouxsie and the Banshees: today we're talking about "Juju".
Generally considered by critics as the masterpiece of Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Juju" (1981) is the band's fourth studio album. Published through Polycord Records and produced in collaboration with Nigel Gray, the record represents a return to the more acoustic sound of the first two albums, after the electronic turn of "Kaleidoscope". As Severin stated, "Juju" is effectively a concept album. Although the Banshees had not planned to structure it following a precise narrative, the tracks appear linked by a dark thread. It is precisely this gloomy atmosphere that makes the band the first and primary exponent of a dark-punk form that groups like Joy Division, Bauhaus, and The Cure would later draw inspiration from. In this fourth work, the taste for the occult merges in a completely innovative way with an African-inspired tribalism, which is already clear from the album's title: "juju" is a traditional music form from the African continent, from which the curious statue on the cover also originates. The first and most evident example of this combination is the single "Spellbound", an infernal dance supported by McGeoch's acoustic guitar and Budgie's relentless drums, while Siouxsie's voice casts its spell on the listener. This is followed by the hypnotic guitar arpeggio of "Into the Light", where McGeoch uses an unusual device, the Gizmotron, to modify his instrument's sound, making it similar to a violin. The second single is "Arabian Knights", a dark-punk milestone where Middle Eastern melodies tell of a woman attracted to an abusive man through the stereotypes of a Western observer. The electronics dominant in "Kaleidoscope" make their appearance in the violent "Monitor", only to dissolve again, making way for the funereal ballad "Night Shift". The rhythm becomes sustained again with "Sin In My Heart", while in "Head Cut", Siouxsie's witch-like scream opens the curtain on a brutally horrific scenario, with severed heads and death masks. The album closes with the ritual of "Voodoo Dolly", a Gothic nightmare built on Budgie's tribal rhythm. The album was particularly successful in the United Kingdom, acclaimed by critics for the extraordinary cohesion among the group members. Besides Siouxsie's vocal performance, McGeoch and Budgie's talent in constructing the album's masterful rhythmic interlocks was praised. The album reached seventh place in the English chart and remained there for 17 weeks. "Juju" would be followed by seven more albums before the band's final dissolution in 1996, after over 20 years of career.
We suggest listening to "Spellbound", perhaps the most representative song of Siouxsie and the Banshees, defined by Barney Hoskyns of New Musical Express as a "glorious electric storm".
