Back in the 80s, the 4AD record label was synonymous with a certain ineffable otherness. Its albums had beautiful covers, designed by Vaughan Oliver, and inside those covers was music routinely described as “ethereal”. 4AD meant taste and taste meant 4AD.
Tom Fischer, a young Swiss man from a village outside Zurich, dreamed about his music one day appearing on 4AD. Dead Can Dance, who were signed to the label, were one of his favourite bands. His own music was extraordinary – string and horn sections clashing with electric guitars; female soprano voices countering untutored male vocals; a sense of freedom from boundaries – so why shouldn’t it have found a home among the independent avant garde?
