Telex today release their kaleidoscopic synthpop take on The Beatles’ 1968 track “
Dear Prudence.” The recording was recently discovered by Telex while compiling their first release with Mute,
This is Telex, a brand new 14-track compilation out on
April 30.
This is Telex will be released on limited edition shrimp pink and fern green colored vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital platforms. Limited edition t-shirt bundles are available. Sleeve notes are by David Stubbs.
Watch the “Dear Prudence” video, a montage of classic footage,
here.
Pre-order
This Is Telex here.
This is Telex features singles from across the Belgian synthpop trio’s career, from their debut single, “
Twist à Saint Tropez” in 1978 – coincidentally, the year Mute was formed with the release of Daniel Miller’s 7”, The Normal “TVOD” / “Warm Leatherette” – through to their final album release,
How Do You Dance? in 2006. Tracks on the compilation are newly mixed and remastered from the original tapes by band members Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers. These new mixes often involved subtracting from, rather than adding to, the original multi-track recordings.
“We simplify,” explains Lacksman.
“We take away, to create something more efficient, more Telex.” The newly mixed and remastered tracks on the compilation include singles such as
“Twist à Saint Tropez,” “Moskow Diskow,” and
“Euro-vision,” alongside two recently discovered and unreleased tracks – Sonny & Cher’s
“The Beat Goes On” and
“Dear Prudence.” Also included are tracks from their writing collaboration with Sparks –
“Drama Drama” and
“Exercise Is Good For You” – and their cover of the Sparks hit
“The Number One Song In Heaven.” Telex are Marc Moulin (1942- 2008), Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers. The band formed in 1978 in Brussels, just one of a handful of synthpop pioneers at a time when electronic pop was regarded as novelty, with suspicion, as a harbinger for future dystopia and alienation. Telex were concerned about the consequences of new technology for human communication, their name taken, ironically, from a now obsolete piece of communications technology, adding a retro-futurist air to their legend.
The band famously entered the Eurovision Song Contest representing Belgium with “Euro-vision.” Moers says he regarded their entry as
“very Situationist International, the worm in the apple” and they resolved either to come first or last. They didn’t achieve that goal but became part of the Eurovision saga. Moers saw Johnny Logan (who went on to win the contest twice for Ireland) and told him, “
you’re going to win.” Logan replied “
Yeah. But if I win it’s good for me. If you win, it’s good for music.” Telex announced their retirement in 2008 following Moulin’s death. This new partnership with Mute will see a comprehensive reissue series of the back catalogue, starting with the new compilation.
“We’re so glad to have signed with Mute. We couldn’t have done better,” says Moers.
“It’s like a dream, fantastic,” adds Lacksman.
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