There is something particularly compelling about music that refuses to stay in its own time. A recording can sit untouched for years, perhaps decades, and when it finally emerges there is always the question of whether it will sound like a relic or whether, somehow, it will still have something to say. With SulkyMan’s The Things I Said, the answer is very much the latter.

Originally recorded around 1995 on a Yamaha MT50 four track analogue recorder, the track is part of a remarkable archive of music created by London musician, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Chris Pascoe. Better known as SulkyMan, Pascoe has spent a lifetime moving through different musical worlds, from the early London anarcho-punk scene to underground tech-house and now his increasingly expansive solo work. Yet The Things I Said feels less like a historical artefact than a rediscovered piece of a much larger creative puzzle.

There is a certain beauty in hearing music created under limitations. The modern recording environment offers virtually limitless tracks, edits and opportunities to correct, polish and reconsider. The four-track recorder offered none of that luxury. Decisions had to be made. Sounds had to work together. Performances had to mean something. It is this sense of commitment can be heard throughout The Things I Said.

The track is built around an especially warm, expressive fretless bass, an instrument Pascoe clearly understands not simply as part of the rhythm section but as a melodic voice in its own right. Here, the bass seems to inhabit the spaces around the other instruments, giving the track a distinctive sense of movement and warmth.

Then come the atmospheric keyboard textures, adding another dimension to the arrangement. There is something almost dreamlike about the contrast between those sounds and the more grounded guitar, creating a tension between the otherworldly and the everyday that feels very characteristic of SulkyMan.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Pascoe’s approach is that there is no sense of instrumental performance being used simply to demonstrate ability. Every part appears to have a purpose. All of the instruments occupy their own spaces, allowing the vocal and the emotional character of the song to remain central. And this approach makes sense when you understand where Pascoe came from.

His first musical chapter began with Part 1, the London anarcho-punk band he formed in 1980. Their Funeral Parade EP was an uncompromising release that sat awkwardly outside the musical landscape of its time, subsequently developing a cult reputation and being revisited years later. Pascoe’s musical journey would eventually take him in very different directions, including London’s underground tech-house scene, before he arrived at the completely self-contained creative process that defines SulkyMan.

What connects those apparently disparate chapters is independence. SulkyMan doesn’t sound like an artist trying to fit himself into a pre-existing category. The music can be dark without becoming gloomy, melodic without becoming conventional and introspective without disappearing into itself. There is a dry humour running beneath the work too, even when the subject matter becomes uncomfortable. The Things I Said captures that tension beautifully.

There is melancholy here, certainly, but it isn’t passive melancholy. It looks inward while remaining aware of the world outside. And this is maybe why a recording from 1995 can still feel relevant in 2026.

The technology may have changed. The music industry has changed beyond recognition. The way people discover and consume music has changed. But the things that make a good song resonate haven’t changed nearly as much. A strong melody still matters. A distinctive voice still matters. Atmosphere still matters. And perhaps most importantly, honesty still matters.

The Things I Said is therefore more than another excavation from an artist’s archive. It is evidence that SulkyMan’s creative instincts were already firmly in place decades ago. The track sounds like the work of someone who was still discovering what he could do, but who already understood what he didn’t want to do: follow the crowd or overplay the song.

It’s an intriguing meeting between past and present, a song made nearly thirty years ago that has finally arrived at exactly the right time.

And judging by the fact that this is only one chapter in a much larger collection of unreleased recordings, The Things I Said may well be less an ending than the beginning of a very long overdue conversation with SulkyMan’s past.

About SulkyMan

SulkyMan is the solo project of London singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Chris Pascoe. Honest, sometimes raw lyrics meet inventive melodies across a body of work that has been described as sulky, moody, introspective, catchy and deeply emotive. Working independently, Pascoe writes, performs, records and produces his own music, often using vintage analogue equipment and performing every instrument and vocal himself. His musical history stretches from London’s early anarcho-punk scene with Part 1 to the underground tech-house world and, now, his work as SulkyMan.

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