The Fixx have returned to recording music and they may have created one of the best albums of the year. Every Five Seconds was released June 3, 2022. I have been a fan of the band since the early 1980s when I first heard Shuttered Room, and the hit songs, “Red Skies” and “Stand or Fall”; and saw their videos on MTV. I was also lucky enough to see the Fixx live for free down in Daytona Beach for one of those famous MTV “Spring Break” shows, the station used to sponsor in Florida each spring, during the 1980s.
They are one of the best bands of the 1980s, and I have all or most of their discography. So, when I heard they were coming out with new music I was immediately interested. My favorite album is Reach the Beach, but Every Five Seconds is giving it a run for its money right now. How would the band sound after 10 years away from recording? Like they never stopped. They only aged perfectly, like fine wine.
Every Five Seconds is not only a great Fixx album, it will be amongst my favorite albums of 2022. This is simply amazing. Many singers who attempt a come back have “rusty” vocals. Cy Curnin’s voice sounds as good as it did back in 1979, when they started in London.
Every track of this album is a blockbuster full of thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics, just like all of their best, including one of my favorite classics, “No One Has to Cry”. Cy says it best here, “Life can either be a series of broken obsessive thoughts or it can be a wonderful mosaic of moments. Every Five Seconds, reflects this human paradox. The constant struggle between bewilderment and betterment”.
The band has remained surprisingly consistent, retaining most members for decades: Cy Curnin, on vocals; Adam Woods, on drums; Dan K. Brown, on bass; Jamie West-Oram on guitars; and Rupert Greenall, on keyboards, all have returned for Every Five Seconds.
Cy Curnin also states about the concept and meaning behind the new album, “You’re struggling to retain staying mindful, which has become a mantra of the age we live”. He continues, “Everyone is obsessed with trying to be mindful. What that’s always said to me is that we’re so distracted by so many things and we never really get a chance to get into the deep well of knowledge, so we’re constantly bombarded with headlines and no text underneath it. We’ve been bombarded with this left and right divisive dogfight. We wanted to put something that was kind of a balm to the anxiety of the times.”
So, let’s take a look at each track:
“A Life Survived”, is my early favorite song. The lyrics are a perfect story, which everyone should read. Don’t let your life be a life survived. Make the most of every moment of every day; because later in life, they seem to past much faster. Cy sings, “Do I deserve a second chance today. What would change? If one happened to come my way. Junk accumulated over the years. Could I give all away? Would these attachments fade? Mementos, forget me nots, gorillas in the room. Like it or not all I’ve ever had. Was a past to throw away. I’m a slave of impulse. Clutching a sad bouquet. Now I’m weeping by the grave. Of a life survived but never lived”. A sad story, but true for so many that appreciate material gain without enjoying all the other non-material things available in this life and world. More wisdom is shared on this epic track, but there is more to come throughout. Cy sings, “In a life that takes but never gives. Anger is no defense. For the river’s flow is passive. From another life the lesson lands. Touched down in my hands. Will I carve a happy ending?” Even more wisdom, this song is full of it, Cy sings, “Wary of the love I see around. Reminds me of the someone I let down. To have it all my own way. Now the silence speaking in volumes. Hating that I stayed”. Finally, the perfect closing line, Cy sings, “It has its way with you it runs away from you”. And so, it does, if you don’t look for more than material accumulation; that you can never take beyond this world anyway.
“Closer”, opens must faster and Cy delivers the important lyrics just as fast, “Burn a bridge, blow up a car. Torch a flag, I’d bear the scar. Hustle for peace, settle for less. Fundamentals make their bets. This gaping monster of apathy. Tell me man, what is it to be? There’s freedom of choice, a choice or not? There’s so much to lose, many have not. The pressure builds, anger grows. Blows the lid as it overthrows. Blind rage, counting death. Moving orders, lost the town. Well, is it a bird? Is it a drone? A violent peace protects our home. Talking robots are on the calls. Self-deluded on a smart dumb phone. Why cast a spell when you can send a text? Mesmerized and we’ve all been hexed. Now the targets where we shop. Don’t you feel. Closer?” The end of the world coming into view, from his perspective.
“Take What You Want”, opens with beautiful, dreamlike keys from Rupert Greenall. Then Cy sings, “Oh, oracle, what policy? Which magic word should I decree? Our future past what prophecy? The soul I trade in what currency? Where’s the moral line for privacy? Is there a wall of secrecy? Fanatics rule in duplicity. These minor men in the majority”. He continues, “They cannot take what I have to give. My strongest hand remains passive. With all my might I must commit. Where the freedom dies, freedom lives”. Very deep lyrics expressing what many of us feels about today’s world, that we want changed…soon.
“Wake Up’, is the first single and probably one of the best songs on the album for its master, precise lyrics. The opening guitar solo from Jamie West-Oram is excellent and memorable. Cy sings, like an early Doors’ Morrison, with slow delivery, “Baby it’s time, to wake up! Baby it’s time, to move. Things ’round here need a shakeup. Maybe this time we grew. I heard somebody ran out. Somebody broke free. I hope they make it to tell them. We’re suffocating and can’t breathe. Oh, if only we stood up. Question everything you see. Though behind every fake smile. Is it real or make-believe? Oh, if only we stood up. If only we spoke out!” Perfect, ‘nuff said.
“Suspended in Make Believe”, is another lyrical masterpiece. Cy sings, “What does it mean in the scheme of things? How does it seem? You only feel insignificant now. How does that feel? Is it all a dream? Waking in need. Suspended in make believe. Silent scream. A warning to heed. Take care of your mouth. And the words that stream. It could wake the dead. Start a stampede. Better to whisper”. Yes, indeed.
“Lonely as a Lighthouse”, is the first new video from a band that was famous for their videos back in the days when MTV dominated the music video world. The ocean roars as keys, and a “Mayday” distress signal, echoes across the soundscape. Cy sings, “I lie outside the harbor walls. To keep you off the rocks. My task is cold wet and thankless. But I light the fire with ardor. You know I’ll keep you from the storm. I’m the pilot of the waves. Before the tempest roars once more. To swallow up its slaves”. The ‘pilot of the waves’ sparks memories of a similar phrase in Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”, “Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace”. Then Cy sings, “Do you spare a thought I wonder. For the light that brought you in. I pulled you from the danger. Don’t leave me lonely. Lonely as the lighthouse”. Then, he invokes the album’s title, “Thinking of love. Every five seconds”.
“Cold”, opens with keys, bass, drums and guitar as Cy sings, “I could have spared you the trouble. I should have spared you all the confusion. With one stroke of my hand. Send the pieces far and wide. Oh, I had seen how it would end. In the back of my mind. A familiar scene. The point-blank range. Oh, too late the damage done. Our shattered make-believe outrun. And we were both too close to focus. And we were both too proud to notice. And it left me cold, soulless, heartless”. A tough break-up song. How do you close this chapter of the relationship? Well, with a reference to Frank Zappa, of course, “For what is good intention? To let a sleeping dog lie. When the mother of invention. Meant for this heart to fly”. Just joking, but nice lyrical choice anyway.
“Spell’, opens with cool keyboards and an excellent guitar solo, supported well with bass and drums. It reminds me of “Liner”, “Outside” and “Question”, where the song title is repeated throughout the song. It is a great song musically, but the lyrics are not as memorable.
The excellent lyrics are back in “Woman of Flesh and Blood”. One of the most beautiful love songs, that Cy has ever authored. It reminded me a little of fellow 80s-star Chris De Burgh’s “Lady in Red”. Cy sings, “A Woman of Flesh and Blood, I want to look at you. Woman of the world, I want to talk to you. Turned the wheel the wrong way. Watching the magic bullets flying by. Old innocence. ‘til one hit me right between my eyes. Then I saw the daylight. Shining from your face, killing my pain. Join your circus. There’s time to go insane”.
Hard to believe we’re already at the end of the album. You really will wish it was “Neverending”. Cy’s lyrics close this epic well, “Off we go. We never stay. The wild calls. We’ll be on our way. Here and now. Do or die. Nightfall begins another day. And as we walk away. The memories stay. We threw stones. And the ripples are neverending”. Yes, please avoid throwing stones, the pain others feel, endures.
Every track on this album is a hit. You will wish it didn’t end so early. I am sure, like me, you will play this over and over if you give it a try. Pick this up because others will share it’s wonder with you and you will wish you were the first to mention it. Thank you Fixx for returning. I hope there will be many more albums like this in the future.
Track Lists
- A Life Survived – 5:44
- Closer – 3:44
- Take What You Want – 4:02
- Wake Up – 4:48
- Suspended in Make Believe – 3:57
- Lonely as a Lighthouse – 5:06
- Cold – 6:27
- Spell – 3:37
- Woman of Flesh and Blood – 4:14
- Neverending – 3:20
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