It'll End in Tears

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It’ll End in Tears is the debut album by This Mortal Coil, a 4AD project led by label boss Ivo Watts-Russell. Released on 1 October 1984 and recorded at Blackwing Studios in London, the album brings together many 4AD artists, including Elizabeth Fraser and Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins, Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk, Martyn Young of Colourbox, and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. The first side mostly features cover songs chosen by Watts-Russell, while the second side contains original tracks by Raymonde and Gerrard.

The standout tracks include two Big Star covers opening the album, and the beloved Song to the Siren, a Tim Buckley cover sung by Fraser that became the group’s debut single and a hit on the UK indie charts. Gerrard contributed her own material with Waves Become Wings and Dreams Made Flesh, and the set is joined by Barramundi, an instrumental interlude. Other notable songs include Fond Affections (a cover of a Rema-Rema track) and Another Day (a Roy Harper cover). The album closes with A Single Wish, a largely instrumental piece featuring Sharp on vocals.

This Mortal Coil never performed live, and the project was built to let artists reinterpret songs with artistic freedom. The cover photography and the 4AD design aesthetic helped define the label’s look. It was commercially successful, reaching the UK Top 40 and earning widespread critical praise, with many critics highlighting Fryer’s production. Over time, it has been acclaimed as a major influence on the dream pop and gothic-tinged sounds that followed. The album also helped revive interest in Buckley, Chilton, and Harper. This Mortal Coil went on to release two more albums, Filigree & Shadow (1986) and Blood (1991), though those later works did not match the early triumph of It’ll End in Tears.