No Songs Tomorrow Delves Into the History of Darkwave, Ethereal Rock, and Coldwave

Back in 2016, Cherry Red Records released Still in a Dream, a lavish five-disc compilation exploring the history of shoegaze with a smorgasbord of tracks that included icons of the genre like Catherine Wheel, Chapterhouse, Kitchens of Distinction, Lush, Ride, and Slowdive alongside plenty of more obscure artists.

What Still In a Dream did for shoegaze, the recently announced No Songs Tomorrow compilation will almost certainly do for the genres of darkwave, ethereal rock, and coldwave. Spanning four discs, with liner notes by Frank Deserto of Post-punk.com, No Songs Tomorrow looks to be yet another definitive compilation from the British label.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top of the Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

No Songs Tomorrow collects together the true progenitors and risk takers of this Venn diagram scene, each of whom set forth in uncharted territory in the post-punk minefield, expressing parts of themselves others dare not in the truest and darkest of fashions. From familiar names to underground gems and collectables, and painting with a broad international palette, this might be considered a companion piece to several of our previous offerings, Silhouettes and Statues, Close to the Noise Floor, Still in a Dream and Cherry Stars Collide among them. We recommend late night listening, either home alone or dripping with sweat on a rotting dancefloor.

I was recently discussing Projekt Records with some online friends, so the news of this release is perfect timing. (Several Projekt acts, including Black Tape For a Blue Girl and Lycia, appear on the compilation.) Perusing the track list, it’s yet another treasure trove of well-known artists (The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Cranes, Soft Cell) alongside more obsure and underground acts with names like Executive Slacks, Beautiful Pea Green Boat, Royal Family & The Poor, and Museum of Devotion. Here’s the full track list:

Disc 1

1. The Cure — “The Funeral Party”
2. Babel 17 — “Come Into Hell and Murder Hate”
3. Black Tape For a Blue Girl — “Within These Walls (2023 Stereo Mix)”
4. Days of Sorrow — “Wild World”
5. Cocteau Twins — “Blood Bitch”
6. Lars Falk — “See My Friend Fall”
7. Rise and Fall of a Decade — “Nothing To Say, Easy To Answer”
8. Dead Can Dance — “Avatar”
9. Executive Slacks — “Say It Isn’t So”
10. In the Nursery — “Lost Prayer”
11. Psyche — “The Crawler”
12. Kas Product — “Tina Town”
13. Eleven Pond – Tear And Cinnamon”
14. Requiem In White — “A Prodigal Son”

Disc 2

1. U.V. Pøp — “No Songs Tomorrow (Album Version)”
2. Soft Cell — “Heat”
3. Lowlife — “From Side To Side”
4. Parade Ground — “Moans”
5. Cranes — “Focus Breathe”
6. Lycia — “From Foam”
7. Sad Lovers And Giants — “Return To Clocktower Lodge”
8. Section 25 — “Looking From A Hilltop”
9. Fra Lippo Lippi — “Now and Forever”
10. The Essence — “Only For You”
11. Mittageisen — “Automaten (Radio Edit)”
12. Beautiful Pea Green Boat — “The Screw”
13. Autumnfair — “Novy Mir”
14. Minimal Compact — “My Will”
15. Cuddly Toys — “Pierrot Lunaire (Malice Pt 2)”

Disc 3

1. Clan of Xymox — “Louise (7″ Version)”
2. Iron Curtain — “The Condos”
3. Neon — “Dark Age (12″ Mix)”
4. Die Form — “Poupée Mécanique”
5. Kirlian Camera — “Blue Room”
6. Danse Society — “Danse/Move”
7. SS-Say — “Care”
8. For Against — “Amen Yves”
9. Heavenly Bodies — “Rains On Me”
10. Invisible Limits — “Demand For Supply”
11. Xmal Deutschland — “Sickle Moon”
12. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry — “Hand On Heart”
13. Little Nemo — “City Lights (Long Way)”
14. Royal Family & The Poor — “Discipline”
15. Bushido — “High Rise”
16. Mankind’s Audio Development — “Craving”

Disc 4

1. Attrition — “The Last Refuge”
2. Two — “Picture Frame”
3. Soul — “Love”
4. Alien Sex Fiend — “In And Out Of My Mind”
5. Museum Of Devotion — “Gauge Field”
6. Malaria! — “You You”
7. No More — “Suicide Commando”
8. Twice A Man — “Decay”
9. Collection d’Arnell-Andréa — “A L’Aurore Assassine”
10. The Vyllies — “Give Me A Name”
11. Bel Canto — “Dewy Fields”
12. The Arms of Someone New — “Every Seventh Wave”
13. Single Gun Theory — “Exorcise This Wasteland”
14. Tones On Tail — “Performance (7″ Version)”
15. Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook — “Clouds

No Songs Tomorrow will be released on May 31, 2024. Folks in the States can preorder copies from Projekt.