5 Singles And 1 Smoked Cod

This is a timely and welcome release on the part of Auto Da Fe.

As Gay Woods and Trevor Knight prepare to enter a new phase of operations, this mini-album compilation of all their singles to date (plus, of course 'one smoked cod') should serve as a suitably persuasive introduction to the uninitiated whilst reminding the rest of us of just how exceptional Auto Da Fe are, at their best.

And these singles do represent the very best of Auto Da Fe. 'November November' was one of the most haunting radio sounds of 1982 and, three years later, still sends a shiver up the spine. The emotional directness and melodic strength which one associates with folk music - where Gay Wood's roots lie, after all - are on this song so naturally integrated into Trevor Knight's techno-rock soundscape that an ugly word such as 'fusion' is rendered totally redundant. 'November November' is something else - a genuine modern-age folk song that takes the best of both worlds and makes them one.

The excellent rhythm section of mark Megaray (bass) and Robbie Brennan were still on board to provide the kick inside 'Bad Experience', the Phil Lynott-produced song which has Gay's voice rolling in waves as she looks back in anger and bitterness at people with straight faces and crooked smiles who waited for heaven when they died, and created hell on earth. (Did someone mention the Christian Brothers?!?)

Side One ends with my own favourite Auto Da Fe song, 'Man Of Mine', love songs are rarely so achingly lovely - but then singers as nakedly personal as Gay Woods are even rarer - and, as if inspired by what's going on around him, Philip Lynott contributes what may well be the most impassioned vocal of his career. This is a truly great song.

Side two opens with 'Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart' which, to judge by its position in the Dave Fanning Fab 50 seems to be the most popular Auto Da Fe song. Personally I find it pales in comparison to the band's originality and am happier to splash into 'All Is Yellow (Hot Hot Hot)', a shimmering, picture-postcard from the memorable Summer of '84. Trevor Knight's musical merry-go-round is bang on, and while Gay's piping vocal suits the buoyant mood, she does slip over into mannerism at least once, when she throws out a falsetto squeak a la Lene Lovich but without the balance and control. It may seem churlish to magnify a one-off, in this context, but, on the handful of occasions I've seen Auto Da Fe live, I though they overdid those kind of histrionics in the course of their full set.

Finally, one smoked cod is unwrapped. 'There They Stood' has voices interjecting as in a dream, a feeling heightened by Trevor Knight's sad, and almost surreal soundtrack. Melodically and atmospherically, it's slightly reminiscent of Randy Newman's 'In Germany Before The War' and, in a way, is also concerned with death - in this case, the slow paralysis of a relationship in decline in which the man rages against the dying of the light. Clearly the odd one out here in so far as it's scarcely a single, it has in common with the other tracks, an emotional power that's characteristic of Auto Da Fe at their best.

And, like I said, this is the best of Auto Da Fe. 5 Singles and 1 Smoked Cod - take it away.