This Mortal Coil

Goth supergroup This Mortal Coil helped establish the sound of ’80s dream pop, uniting much of the 4AD roster in a wide-ranging exploration of chamber strings, ambient soundscaping and dolorous vocals. The project was the brainchild of 4AD label head Ivo Watts-Russell and producer John Fryer, but it was guest singers like Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser and Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard who imbued the music with its profound sense of pathos. Canny A&R decisions also played a crucial role in the form of carefully chosen cover versions. On the group’s 1984 debut, It'll End in Tears, Fraser and her bandmate Robin Guthrie fashioned a dream-pop classic out of Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett’s 1970 ballad “Song to the Siren”, while 1986’s Filigree & Shadow features darkly shaded versions of songs by Judy Collins, Van Morrison and The Byrds’ Gene Clark. This Mortal Coil’s final chapter was the 1991 album Blood, but the spirit of the project lives on anywhere a mournful vocal is paired with a splash of strings or piano and ominous streaks of synthesiser.