Made of Rain is the Psychedelic Furs’ seventh album since their 1980, self-titled debut and, while the band has shed a few original members since then, brothers Richard and Tim Butler are still front and centre of this post-punk colossus. After a break that lasted most of the 90s, the Furs have been touring again since the turn of the century, but it is only now that they have inevitably tired of playing the part of living juke boxes, knocking out the hits from their glam-tinged purple patch. Hence a return to the studio and a new album which displays the band’s distinctive swagger, even if things are mostly in line with tunes like the laidback “Heaven” and “Love My Way”, rather than the more raucous “Dumb Waiters” or “Pulse”.
“The Boy That Invented Rock’n’Roll” and “Don’t Believe” kick off the proceedings with a driving groove and Richard Butler’s characteristic oblique lyrics. Much of the rest of Made of Rain, however, features a slower tempo, dense sounds and more melancholy vocals, even if things remain anthemic with wide screen guitars and production throughout. Nevertheless, it’s a sound which is unmistakably that of the Psychedelic Furs – even if Butler would have been unlikely to sing lines like “Hide the medicine from the kids” during their first go-round, but might rather have encouraged them to dig in.
Richard Butler’s gravelly, Bowie-esque tones also croon “Don’t be surprised when every dog has had its day” on “You’ll Be Mine”. However, the Furs seem well short of the end of their particular road on the evidence of this album and it’s a fine return for a band that has already left its mark. In fact, it will be something special to hear some of these tracks in among the joyous noise of their original songs when the live rock’n’roll arena opens up again.