“Avalon” by Roxy Music

"Avalon" is the title track of Roxy Music's 1982 album, the eighth and last studio record they made, and it was the second single pulled from it. Bryan Ferry wrote it, sings it and plays keyboards, and it's the sound of a band gone fully velvet-lined, all atmosphere and hush.

The playing is all silk and shadow: Phil Manzanera and Neil Hubbard's guitars shimmer and drift, Andy Mackay's saxophone curls through like smoke, and Alan Spenner's bass and Andy Newmark's drums lay down a slow, supple groove with Jimmy Maelen's percussion flickering around it. Yannick Etienne and Fonzi Thornton add backing vocals that lift the chorus off the ground. Ferry croons over it all like a man half-lost in a dream at the end of a long night.

Rhett Davies produced it with the band, and Bob Clearmountain mixed it to a gleaming finish. Backed with "Always Unknowing", it made 13 on the UK chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.