Factory Benelux presents a new tri-fold digipak double CD edition of Harmony, the debut album by influential Scottish group The Wake. Originally released by Factory Records in December 1982, this new expanded edition marks the 40th anniversary of this landmark postpunk album.
The Wake formed in Glasgow in 1981 after singer/guitarist Caesar left Altered Images, and joined Factory the following year. Harmony was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with producer Chris Nagle (formerly Martin Hannett's preferred engineer), by which time the group comprised Caesar (vocals, guitar), Carolyn Allen (keyboards), Steven Allen (drums) and Bobby Gillespie (bass). On release as Fact 60 the original 7 track mini album earned a 5 star review in Sounds magazine, hailed as the missing indiepop link between Factory and Postcard Records.
Bonus tracks on CD1 include The Wake's dub-informed second single, Something Outside, rare debut single On Our Honeymoon, and also their John Peel session from July 1983, the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.
CD2, originally issued as a bonus CD with the LP compilation Testament (FBN 95), is a fascinating collection of 21 lost recordings compiled from live and demo cassettes located in the Rob Gretton tape archive, all taped between 1981 and 1983. The enhanced artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar. A triple vinyl edition with different bonus tracks is also available (FBN 29).
After releasing several further albums on Factory and Sarah Records during the 1980s and 1990s, The Wake returned to recording with A Light Far Out in 2012. A new studio album is expected in 2023.