Alternative dance-pop outfit, The The released its first proper album, Soul Mining in 1983. The album topped Melody Maker's best of list at #3 for the year. Fronted by founding member and brainchild, Matt Johnson in 1979, the album managed to blend easy-breezy melodies with social and political undertones. "This is the Day" is the album's catchiest track that revolves around Johnson's warm, fuzzy vocals, a simple guitar lick, bouncy bass lines, hush harmonicas, a soulful accordion and some piano tinkling with some processed drum beats. The song managed to get some airtime in a M&M commercial in 2007. However, other tracks like "Perfect" and "I've Been Waitin' For Tomorrow (All My Life) show a darker side filled with irony, hate and regret. On the latter, Johnson lashes out, "I've been deformed by emotional scars and the cancer of love has eaten out my hearts."
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