Few labels possess an identity as immediately recognizable as that of 4AD Records. Launched by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980, the label became identified with a goth-y, highly atmospheric and artsy take on alternative music thanks to releases from a truly iconic list of artists: Bauhaus, Clan of Xymox, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and This Mortal Coil (to name a few). The label’s distinctive aesthetic was further enhanced by Vaughan Oliver’s rich artwork, design, and typography.

“4AD” has since become as much an adjective as a record label. Calling something “4AD-esque” conjures up a very specific sound and style, one that’s richly evocative, atmospheric, and melancholy, and feels like a unique sonic world all its own. All things that are true of Sleeps with the Fishes. Unfortunately, given that it was released around the same time as Dead Can Dance’s Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, This Mortal Coil’s Filigree & Shadow, and the celebrated Lonely Is an Eyesore compilation, it’s easy to overlook this sole collaboration between Pieter Nooten (Clan of Xymox) and producer Michael Brook.

Which is a real shame, because Sleeps with the Fishes feels like the Platonic ideal of the classic 4AD aesthetic as much as anything by the aforementioned artists, if not more so. Cut from the same cloth as This Mortal Coil, and even featuring some of the same players (e.g., violinist Gini Ball, singer Alison Limerick), the album weds somber synth and string arrangements, Nooten’s haunting voice, and Brook’s trademark “Infinite Guitar” to create an album that’s still as affecting today as it was nearly forty years ago.