release date: Oct. 20, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: The Creatures
label: Instinct / Sioux Records - nationality: England, UK
4th and final studio album by the duo The Creatures - consisting of Siouxsie Sioux and her husband Budgie (aka Peter Clarke) following 4½ years after the acclaimed Anima Animus (1999). Siouxsie and the Banshees, in which both played, disbanded in 1996, but in 2002 the group reconvened for an abbreviated world tour, which resulted in the live album The Seven Year Itch - Live (May 2003), the final concert being played in Tokyo, after which Siouxsie and Budgie took the opportunity to stick around to record studio improvisations with taiko drummer Leonard Eto of the Japanese instrumental group Kodō, with whom Budgie had long wanted to play. Later in France, sequences from the recordings were mixed with Sioux's vocals, and a number of tracks were selected for the album here. Hai! exists in a variety of versions and may often be found as a double album - in vinyl edition with the same tracks as here on single CD, or as a 2CD version, where the album's second disc is dedicated instrumental versions of the standard album, but it's also released with the standard CD and a DVD of the full-length Tokyo improv with Budgie and Eto. The album was also reissued in 2004 with three bonus tracks.
Musically, the album is possibly the band's most experimental, where familiar styles are hard to pinpoint. In a way it follows the recipe from the band's debut album Feast (1983) by being created in the encounter with another culture, and by trying to include this encounter in the music - and at the same time it's also a return to a more organic sound without the use of electronic instruments. Here, traditional pop structures are layered on top of Budgie and Eto's percussion / drums session, where a Japanese tradition clearly shines through. The focus is not on radio-friendly hits, but rather with respect for tradition and musical improvisation as a focal point. Nevertheless, they have succeeded in creating nine distinctly different compositions, each with their own individual expression and temperament.
The album garnered positive reviews despite the fact that it landed at number #157 on the UK albums chart. The track "Godzilla!" was released as the only single from the album a week before the actual album release.
Much to normal procedure regarding album releases by The Creatures, this one is filled with complex compositions as a very original release that sounds like nothing else and still manages to present music as something other than the usual radio-friendly muzak - reminding us of other radio-friendly tones. It is music on its own terms and something that demands the presence of a listener. My first few listens were special experiences, where the music contained good elements but felt distant. After several examinations, the ears and brain may have adjusted to the specialty - the original blend, and the music became present and almost intrusively intense. It's hard to pick the best tracks, because the album is great as a whole more than anything else.
In 2004, Siouxsie Sioux undertook an acclaimed solo tour - accompanied by Budgie and guitarist Knox Chandler of The Banshees - featuring tracks from both The Creatures and Siouxsie and the Banshees' back catalogue, which was released on film DVD under the title Dreamshow (2005). In 2007, Sioux announced that she and Budgie (Peter Clarke) had separated, which also meant an end to The Creature's career, and the same year Sioux released her (so far) only solo album, Mantaray.
