Though The Mission reached the summit of their art with Carved in Sand in 1990, the band had since sunk into oblivion, after a fistful of uninspired albums and the successive departures of its original members. Returning to the sources of their gothic and lyrical rock, with Aura Wayne Hussey signals a long-awaited comeback album.
The electronic arrangements that corrupted the sound of the group in the 90's has been relegated to the background, and Aura takes over where Carved in Sand left us ten years earlier, restoring the power of the guitars and mystic hymns which made their success. The return of bass player Craig Adams, after an interlude with The Cult, only confirms this resurrection.
If the tones are familiar, this last decade seems to have provided Hussey with an unexpected but welcome second degree. As such, one can follow his love escapades around the world with a certain irony.
Aura opens with "Evangeline", the unstoppable single whose arpeggios are reminiscent of the grand hour of "Beyond The Pale" and "Deliverance". "Shine Like The Stars" and "Slave To Lust" are mid-tempo tracks in the vein of Children. "Mesmerized" is a haunting lament of which the band has the secret. "Lay Your Hand On Me" alternates between the calm and the storm. "Dragonfly" is catchy sugary which comes to awake "Butterfly On A Wheel". "Happy", a bit too joyful and naive, seems to fall back into the adolescent "Like A Child Again". If "To Die By Your Hand" is rather laborious, "Trophy" and "The Light That Pours From You" return to known territory. Hussey reuses Iggy Pop's famous "Night Clubbing" intro for a bittersweet piece about a grotesque moment. "Cocoon", typically Goth, allies arpeggios and a deep voice with a very Cure-like bass. "In Denial" concludes the album with suffering but in beauty.
With Aura, The Mission has returned to its trademark sound and in the process reawakened the sensations thought to be buried forever.
The Mission Aura
