Nocturne (RSD 24)

As part of Record Store Day 2024 Polydor (UK) and Universal Music Recordings are releasing Siouxsie and the Banshees’ 1983 Live album Nocturne performed at the iconic Royal Albert Hall. Pressed on two 140g Black vinyl records, mastered and cut half speed from the original analogue tapes at Abbey Road Studios.

November of 2023 saw Nocturne turn 40 years old and has not had an official vinyl press since. To celebrate this unique live album Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin have overseen a new direction of the already iconic artwork, 16 tracks taken from those two nights over the 30th September and 1st of October 1983, a new gatefold sleeve, printed inners and few extra surprises to discover. The Royal Albert Hall performances would see Sioux on vocals, Severin on bass guitar, Budgie – drums and Robert Smith (of the Cure) who at the time was a full time member of Siouxsie and the Banshees on guitar. Over the two nights the Banshees would play two different set lists, the songs making up Nocturne are hand picked by the band as their ideal setlist from the two gigs.

With songs taken from Juju, it also features a few B-sides and live performances of Beatles covers Helter Skelter and Dear Prudence. The music heard in the introduction before “Israel” is an excerpt from The Rite of Spring, composed in 1913 by Igor Stravinsky Nocturne was lauded for its no-nonsense introduction to the band’s music for neophytes, while fans of the group will appreciate the tight, gutsy, stripped-down performances. In 2013, the album was included in The Quietus’ list of its writers’ 40 favourite live albums.

Julian Marszalek wrote: “Nocturne stands as both a representation of where they were at that point in their career and their status as an incredible live band. Be it Budgie’s precise and muscular rhythms, Steven Severin’s flanged bass, Siouxsie’s commanding presence or Robert Smith’s interpretation of other guitarists’ material, the performance is magnificent and convincing throughout. By cherry picking their finest material, Nocturne was – and still is – a kind of alternate Greatest Hits that acts as a gateway to their kaleidoscopic world.

Although forming on a punky whim in 1976 the Banshees remain one of the most influential and enigmatic bands of our time, worlds apart from their contemporaries and a cut above the rest. Unapologetically singular, confrontational, ever evolving yet all encompassing. The Banshees are as important now and even more so than they have ever been and continue to influence future generations by introducing their music and imagery through such hits as ‘Stranger Things’, Stephen Kings ‘IT’ and Edgar Wrights ‘Last Night in Soho’.