Since the announcement that “Phonogram” was coming back for a third and final volume, we’ve been eagerly anticipating news of any kind. While chatting with Kieron Gillen for our recent batch of interviews (see: “Journey into Mystery”, “Uncanny X-Men”), we knew we had to see if we couldn’t get some kind of “Phonogram” news out of him, right? So we asked permission to ask one question about the book, and Gillen accepted.
Our one question: “What is the one song that fans should listen to tease them of what is coming?” Gillen’s response:
The single most important song in “The Immaterial Girl” is actually “Take on Me” by A-Ha, which is important to the structure in ways I couldn’t possibly explain. “The Immaterial Girl”, as I’ve explained previously, as well as being about essentially the death of small parts of indie culture in 2009 is about the emergence of pop videos in the 80’s, as in what pop videos really were.
We juxtapose between Emily as a 4 year old and Emily as a 30 year old, and “Take on Me”… it’s a video about a comic book, and we’re a comic about video about comic books. So don’t even listen to the record; watch the video. That is the singular, major artifact, and there’s a reason why if you’ve seen me DJing for the last year or so I’ve dropped “Take On Me” in there quite a bit.
As such, here is the music video for “Take On Me”, for your viewing pleasure, and we’re sure you’ll see the connection to the teaser image right away.
That’s not all, though. Gillen teased a little bit further, adding, “Listen to a lot of stuff around 2001. Dig out the old Peaches from 2001 and get some electroclash in you. It’s bad for you, in all the right ways.”
We’re excited for “Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl,” and we hope you are too. If you’ve never read “Phonogram” before, we couldn’t recommend it anymore enthusiastically, so be sure to check out ‘Rue Britania’ and ‘The Singles Club’ as soon as possible. And while you’re at it, checking out Jamie McKelvie’s solo “Suburban Glamour” won’t do you any harm either. There was also a “Phonogram” short in “This Is A Souvenir” if you’re a completionist and/or a fan of Spearmint.
Either way, you have ample time to catch up and ample opportunities to do so. Take advantage of it.
