The Swing (INXS album)

Background

By 1983 Australian rock band INXS attempted to expand their international profile with their fourth studio album, The Swing. The Sydney-based group had formed in 1977 by three brothers Andrew on guitar and keyboards; Jon on percussion and drums; and Tim Farriss on guitar; together with Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar; Michael Hutchence on lead vocals; and Kirk Pengilly on guitar, saxophone, and vocals.

In September 1983 the band travelled to New York City to work with Nile Rodgers (Debbie Harry, David Bowie, Kim Carnes) as producer at his Power Station studio. It was the first time the group had recorded outside Australia and provided the album's lead single, "Original Sin" (December 1983). Rodgers asked Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates to guest on backing vocals for the chorus, Hall later recalled "I don't know why because they're good singers, they didn't need me but I did it anyway".

All four singles were co-written by Andrew with Hutchence, while other album tracks were generally written with one or more additional band members.

From December INXS were working with Nick Launay (Midnight Oil, Models) at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, to complete the rest of the album. A cassette extended play of remixes, Dekadance, was also released in Australia.

Critical response

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that The Swing "retains the new wave pop sense and rock attack of their earlier albums, while adding a stronger emphasis on dance rhythms". He liked the improved songwriting "with more than half of the album featuring memorable hooks". Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined that "[it] boasted all the confident swagger and accomplished rock hooks of a band on the cusp of international acceptance".

Fellow Australian journalists, John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson, found that Rodgers' effort with "Original Sin" had delivered a track with a "confident rhythm" and helped the band so that "they now had focus; the lyrical image ... fitted their circumstances". Meanwhile, Launay, after hearing that track, "accepted the challenge" of providing a "sense of reinvention" for the group so that "post-punk affectations and new romantic plumage were fading away, revealing a rock band with funk leanings and pop instincts".

Charting and awards

The Swing peaked at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart for five non-consecutive weeks from early April to mid-May 1984. It remained in the top 100 for 104 weeks (over two years). On the New Zealand Albums Chart it reached No. 6 – their first appearance on that chart.

Beyond its local success, this album entered the US Top 75 for the first time in the band's history, reaching No. 52 on the Billboard 200, and the Canadian Top 40, where it reached No. 27 on the RPM 100 Albums. In Europe, The Swing entered the Top 20 in France due to the big success of its single "Original Sin" which reached the French Top 5 during the summer of 1984.

The Swing provided three top 3 singles on the Australian charts. The lead single, "Original Sin", released in December 1983, peaked at No. 1 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart for two weeks. The subsequent singles, "I Send a Message" (released March 1984) and "Burn for You" (July) reached No. 3; while their fourth single from the album, "Dancing on the Jetty" (October) appeared in the top 40.

In 1992 Pengilly said "The album didn't really get received very well in the States. I think "Original Sin" did well in France, it went to number one in France in 84. I think it's still one of my favourite albums because it's very diverse and a lot of the tracks are danceable."

In October 2010, The Swing, was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums at No. 56, with their 1987 album, Kick at No. 11.

In 2011 The Swing was re-released as a "Remastered Edition." The Remastering Engineer was Giovanni Scatola.

In February 2014 The Swing returned to the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with the local airing of a mini-series, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, on the Seven Network.

Track listing

All tracks written by Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence, unless otherwise indicated.

Personnel

Videos