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THE THE emerged from the post-punk landscape, in an era of self-taught musicians and DIY experimentation. Combining his passions for film soundtracks and musique concrète with his love of traditional songwriters such as John Lennon, Hank Williams and Robert Johnson, Matt Johnson began to develop a unique sound. His first, low-key release, in 1979, was the limited edition cassette, See Without Being Seen (remastered and reissued in 2020 on his Cinéola label). This in turn led to his signing with 4AD Records for the headspinning Burning Blue Soul, made during intensive recording sessions in ‘81.
THE THE’s great leap forward, Soul Mining, followed in 1983. Brilliantly showcasing Matt Johnson’s multifaceted sonic approach – one that encompassed synthesisers and fiddles, drum machines and accordions – it was an astonishing album, particularly as one made by a mere 21-year-old, boldly charting his emotional weather.
Johnson’s next album was an even more ambitious one. Infected (1986) tackled desire – ‘Out Of The Blue (into the fire)’, ‘Slow Train To Dawn’ – and offered the stirring account of a US fighter pilot losing altitude over the Persian Gulf in ‘Sweet Bird Of Truth’. In ‘Heartland’, he painted a grimly vivid portrait of the UK decaying in the dark days of Thatcherism.
In 2002 at the invitation of THE THE fan David Bowie, Johnson, along with JG Thirlwell, performed an experimental set during Bowie’s curation of the Meltdown festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2002. “I never met Bowie,” Johnson laments. “But he’d sent messages. I know he’d mentioned that Infected was one of his favourite albums. It was a real honour to be invited by him.”
In a surprise development, in 2018, THE THE returned to the stage, after an absence of 16 years, kicking off the widely lauded The Comeback Special tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
