One of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing)

With One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing), A.C. Marias (aka Angela Conway) made good on the promise of a series of singles she released, throughout the eighties, in collaboration with Bruce Gilbert of Wire. He’s core to this album, too, though it’s clear that Conway’s vision is centred; she’s a compelling performer, singing in a measured tone that suggests someone caught, mid-thought, always distracted. The songs are often mantras that hinge around one simple repeated phrase – on “Just Talk”, it’s a circling guitar line that buzzes on an E-string drone while Conway reels out words and syllables with languorous sighs. “To Sleep” and “There’s A Scent Of Rain In The Air” suggest ambient dreamsong; the closing title track is a rhythmic hymn to disappearance. After this album, Conway moved into music video direction, and she’s now a writer, visual artist and filmmaker. But there’s something queerly compelling about One Of Our Girls – it’s an utterly unique experience.