The sexiest Roxy Music song, according to Bryan Ferry
While the methodology might not float in today’s world, with irony being the main currency with which we value art, you can’t deny there is something inherently sexy about the 1970s glam-rock movement. Inhibitions were thrown to wind, and conservatism made way for expressive liberalism, be that art, politics or sexuality. In the eye of that cultural storm were Roxy Music and their eternally devoted fanbase.
And when a band boast that kind of support, the allure of their attraction doesn’t even have to be performed in the lyricism. A lot of the time, its atmosphere and performance are two facets that the English band has locked down.
Led by frontman Bryan Ferry and enigmatic innovator Brian Eno, the band helped plunge British rock into a forward-thinking space that saw rock and electronic sensibilities being assimilated for one of the first times. Their groundbreaking partnership that married Eno’s technical depth with Ferry’s powerful performance style ultimately grew into separate creative pursuits where they were both given space to explore their strengths, respectively.
Within that, Ferry gained a respected reputation for tackling traditional images of romance but with his own sense of lyrical depth. But during his solo efforts, he covered a string of artists whose discography are heavily rotated in lustful environments. During a collaboration with NPR for a special romantic episode of All Songs Considered, Ferry compiled a list of his five favourite love songs and included perhaps the ultimate sultry mid-tempo jam by Al Green, ‘Let’s Stay Together’.
Amidst his admiration for Green, Ferry revealed just how hard it is to write an original love song, saying: “It’s such a universal feeling that you’re always trying to write a song that transcends barriers of language and so on. For me, music always generally has to be about emotion or feelings, and there’s nothing stronger than the feeling of love”.
So when Vulture quizzed Ferry on his own back-catalogue and what particular song would work best as a sheet-beat, it’s no surprise he chose a piece from Roxy Music that is similarly transcendent sonically and focuses its feelings of love less on the words, but more on the palette.
“I suppose ‘Avalon’ has a seductive mood that people like. It’s one of our slow and atmospheric songs.” He continued, “yeah, it captured a mood; captured a moment. I started writing the song when I was in Ireland. Then we did some work on it in Nassau at Compass Point Studios. The studio’s output in the ’70s and ‘80s was unparalleled: AC/DC’s Back in Black and Talking Heads’ Remain in Light were recorded there, for starters. I remember. So it has a kind of island mood about it. But there’s a sophistication to it, which, being in New York, must have played some part”.
