For many people, who love synth based music, will say Gary Numan is a huge influence and most will agree that his back catalogue, from 1978 to 1981 holds many memorable and ground breaking tracks, that helped fashion the sound of the 80s. In 2025, Meanjin/Brisbane based Silver Sircus have taken a selection of Numan’s songs, reinterpreting them, creating the album Metal. The lynch pins of Silver Sircus, since 2008, are Lucinda Shaw (vocalist, performer, composer) and James Lees (drummer, composer, producer), and they are joined by Mark Angel (guitars), Danielle Bentley (cello), Wayne Jennings (cello) and Karl O’Shea (bass guitar).
The title track was also the single off the album and “Metal,” recently has been covered several times, which hints to how important this song has been for musicians worldwide. Rather than anger, there is almost an over riding sense of loss and acceptance of what cannot be controlled, as the piano drifts in its accompaniment to Shaw’s vocals, and the black and white music video is equally mesmerising. They have brought a classical darkness to possibly the most famous electronic track ever of this period, “Cars.” The cellos are delightfully mournful and I doubt you have ever heard “Are Friends Electric?” quite like this. Genteel and floating on a carefully prepared cloud of dreams, with a feeling of being transported to a plane of deep reverence.
My introduction to Numan was through the release of “Down In The Park,” and as a kid, there is an emotional attachment to the what I felt was a futuristic video and a song that was not like anything else out there. The Silver Sircus version is slower and, honestly there is so much more gravitas behind the lyrics, it catches you by surprise. The chamber music style with the deep tones of the cellos, induces a powerful and overwhelming wave of pleasure. There is also other track such as “I DIe, You Die,” “Stormtrooper In Drag” and the instantly recognisable instrumental “Airlane.”
There is a lot of nostalgia when it comes to early Gary Numan and Silver Sircus have handled every track with great care, each rolling with ease into the other. The use of piano and cello prove that you can play well written synth based songs and they can still translate. If you listen carefully, you will catch the drums, bass and guitar though they sit back in the mix so as to not overshadow the stringed instruments, and we cannot go past Shaw’s vocal performance. Powerful, evocative and never trying to emulate Numan, but rather forging her own imprint. Shaw, Lees & co. have brought an elegance, and, one might say, a wonderful dark polish to this selection of singles and b-sides called Metal.
Onyx Music Reviews 