(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

Ivo Watts-Russell is one of the most influential figures in the history of British rock. By founding 4AD and bringing dream-pop groups to prominence, he gave rise to a phenomenon that became a process, and a process that went on to change the face of British music.

Watts-Russell also took the satisfaction of forming a group, even though in reality he himself claims little credit for their music. This Mortal Coil are in fact simply an open group in which the most radiant talents of the label’s roster take part (Cocteau Twins, Modern English, Dead Can Dance, Wolfgang Press).

It'll End In Tears (4AD, 1984) is a collection of atmospheric songs (A Single Wish), some auteur covers, and semi-ambient instrumental pieces.

The double album Filigree And Shadow (4AD, 1986) is as ambitious as it is soporific. The chamber-music arrangements tend to suffocate the compositions of the guests, whatever they may be. And, in any case, it is still the covers that reign.

Blood (4AD, 1991) persists in the program of auteur covers, which suits the project best. The atmospheres are gentle and enchanted, the arrangements strongly electronic and generally hushed. Blood carries out an extreme operation of manipulating the sound of a rock ensemble, but the most suggestive results are the purely abstract ones, such as Andialu, whereas the pompous orchestral scores of Lacemaker and the whiny, verbose trance of Dreams Are Like Water belong to the rearguard, not the vanguard.

This Mortal Coil, one of the most overrated musical events of their era, end up representing all too well the worst vices of the dream-pop movement: refined and atmospheric, but also pretentious and banal. A vanity fair that often boils down to a sterile exercise in style.