Cult - Under the Midnight Sun

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 8 / 11 / 2022

Label: Black Hill Records
Format: CD

Fiery first album in six years from The Cult which finds them returning to their gothic roots

Review

The Cult have released their first album for six years – ‘Under The Midnight Sun’. The new record marks a return from their recent America-friendly heavy metal style back to the more Anglicised sound of their mid-1980s gothic rock classic ‘She Sells Sanctuary’. Singer Ian Astbury came up with the new album's name after re-watching clips of a mid-summer festival the group played in Northern Finland in 1986 – where the sun never set – and there are throwbacks to The Cult's earlier work throughout ‘Under The Midnight Sun’. The band, originally from Bradford, Yorkshire but recently based in Los Angeles, recorded the album at Rockfield Studios in Wales – their first time back there since the 1980s. The return to Rockfield undoubtedly helped with the band's determination to enjoy some nostalgia. There is a definite post-punk punch to tracks such as ‘A Cut Inside’ where guitarist Billy Duffy's shimmering chords conjure up memories of the late John McGeoch, once the guitarist with Siouxsie & The Banshees. ‘Outer Heaven’ is a powerful, almost overwrought track garlanded with fine strings - and the title track is both sly and seductive. ‘Knife Through Butterfly Heart’ is dramatic - and perhaps helps explain why film director Oliver Stone tried very hard (though unsuccessfully) to persuade Ian Astbury to play singer Jim Morrison in his 1991 film ‘The Doors’. The part eventually went to actor Val Kilmer. ‘Under The Midnight Sun’ is a welcome return for The Cult - a gothic rock tour de force!