- published: 01 Aug 2015
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Adrian Borland (6 December 1957 – 26 April 1999) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the lead singer of post-punk band The Sound (1979–87). Following a substantial solo career spanning five albums he succumbed to the symptoms of schizoid-affective disorder and committed suicide in April 1999.
Adrian Kelvin Borland was born in England in 1957, the son of Bob and Win Borland, an English teacher. At primary school the young Adrian Borland was already friends with future Sound bassist (and Second Layer collaborator) Graham "Green" Bailey, and would meet Steve Budd, closely involved with his band "The Sound" in their early years, in his early teens. Budd would later recall, "We met when we were both 14. He was the only other kid I knew with an electric guitar. Even at 14 you could see he was a genius.". His first band, the Wimbledon-based punk rock trio The Outsiders, was formed with Borland at its nucleus, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass, and Adrian 'Jan' Janes manned the drums. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was self-released on their Raw Edge label, and became the first UK self-released punk album and won them their first unfavourable reviews: "apple-cheeked Ade has a complexion that would turn a Devon milkmaid green with envy", reported the NME. An EP that November, One To Infinity, was labelled as "Tuneless, gormless, gutless" (again by the NME) but was praised elsewhere. It was followed by a second album Close Up in 1979. This received better (but cautious) reviews from the press.
These bloodshot eyes
Say it's time to rest
Before the dawn
Draws its first breath
Before the sun
Destroys what's left of us
She sinks her teeth
Into the chance
It's all she needs
This dark romance
This act of love
Our defiance
Each selfish art keeps its goal
We eye the prize, our hands like claws
The blood-red lips scream 'mine not yours'
Vampiric.
Vampiric love.
I throw a switch
To break the gloom
A mirror shows
An empty room
She says she must
Be going soon
Each selfish art keeps its goal
We eye the prize, our hands like claws
The blood-red lips scream 'mine not yours'
Vampiric.
Vampiric love.
These bloodshot eyes
Say it's time to rest
Before the dawn
Draws its first breath
Before the sun