Born in England in 1958, David Sylvian first hit the British music scene in the late 1970s with Japan, one of several bands that defined the so-called New Romantic cultural period. He later scored a UK Top 5 hit with ‘Ghosts’, before turning solo in 1982. The last twenty years has seen him collaborate with music’s great and good – Ryuichi Sakamoto (Yellow Magic Orchestra), Holger Czukay (Can), and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) – but, to many, his own work represents his best efforts, and repays the closest attention. In the words of Martin Power, his unofficial biographer, Sylvian has crafted “some of the most touching ballads of the pop era, ballads that bring something out in the listener; at worst, sorrow, at best joy”.Read More
