CODE (2026 Remaster) Cabaret Voltaire

• 1 Don't Argue (2026 Remaster) 04:26
• 2 Sex, Money, Freaks (2026 Remaster) 04:58
• 3 Thank You America (2026 Remaster) 05:20
• 4 Here To Go (2026 Remaster) 05:09
• 5 Trouble (Won't Stop) (2026 Remaster) 05:07
• 6 White Car (2026 Remaster) 02:44
• 7 No One Here (2026 Remaster) 05:00
• 8 Life Slips By (2026 Remaster) 03:24
• 9 Code (2026 Remaster) 04:07
• Total Runtime 40:15

Info for CODE (2026 Remaster)

Sheffield electronic pioneers Cabaret Voltaire's most commercially successful album, CODE, is back, and long overdue after years out of print.

Released in 1987, the eighth studio album from the band has been remastered from the original tapes by Denis Blackham, who has mastered or remastered every Cabaret Voltaire album for over 20 years, and is released on Mute, restoring the original artwork. Co-produced with dub mastermind Adrian Sherwood, it marked a bold shift toward synth-pop and mechanistic funk, the last Cabaret Voltaire album made with a major budget while remaining defiantly credible, featuring charting singles 'Don't Argue' and 'Here to Go'.

The album's title speaks to a preoccupation that felt urgent at the time and has only grown more resonant since: the creeping integration of technology, computers and programming into every corner of human life. For Cabaret Voltaire, CODE meant control, not just in regards to music-making, but also in terms of social and economic control against a backdrop of excess.

Recorded at the band's own Western Works studio in Sheffield, with Sherwood joining for pre-production before the sessions moved to Red Bus in London to mix, the album captures a band at the height of their commercial and creative powers. This reissue was begun in 2019 with Richard H. Kirk, before his untimely death and completed using his notes, in consultation with Stephen Malinder and Richard's estate, a fitting tribute to his legacy.

Stephen Mallinder, vocals, bass, keyboards
Richard H. Kirk, guitars, keyboards, computer-generated instrumentation
Guests:
Bill Nelson, guitars (tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7) on
Mark Brydon, bass (tracks 2, 7)
Simeon Lister, saxophone (tracks 2, 7)

Produced by Cabaret Voltaire, Adrian Sherwood

Digitally remastered

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Cabaret Voltaire
are regarded as trailblazing pioneers of experimental electronic and industrial music. The group was formed in Sheffield in the early 1970s. Their groundbreaking blend of tape experiments, abrasive electronics, post-punk energy, and proto-techno rhythms laid the foundations for industrial music and left a lasting mark on generations of electronic and avant-garde artists.

Originally founded by Stephen Mallinder, Chris Watson, and Richard H. Kirk, the group became known for its radical live performances and constant reinvention. Over the decades, Cabaret Voltaire moved effortlessly between noisy improvisation, dancefloor-oriented electronics, and pioneering multimedia approaches that were often far ahead of their time.

Cabaret Voltaire returned to the stage to mark their 50th anniversary. Following that milestone, founding members Stephen "Mal" Mallinder and Chris Watson are reuniting for a European tour—their final headlining tour together. Their current live set focuses on classic Cabaret Voltaire material, reconstructed using vintage equipment and performed with the improvisational edge that has always defined the project.

This album contains no booklet.