Just in time for Halloween, British dance-rock quintet EMF has released a modern yet faithful cover of the Bauhaus post-punk classic “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” Incorporating the trademark indie-rave aesthetic of Forest of Dean’s favorite sons within the dark confines of the iconic midnight anthem, EMF brings new life to the undead classic.
“At the local pub in our teenage years was a jukebox,” recalls vocalist Ian Atkin. “The go-to record that eventually got worn out by us was Bauhaus’ ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead.’ To be able to revisit this and do our own EMF-inspired cover version is a real treat for us, a real Halloween treat, that is. It may come as a surprise, but we embraced true goth culture in our youth. The first band I actually saw play live was The Mission.”
The first band guitarist Ian Dench saw, however, was the band who provided the source material. He recalls, “I saw Bauhaus play at Bristol Locarno in the U.K. on October 10, 1982. I was 18. Their energy and the way they created an atmosphere was electrifying, especially when they played ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’.”
Their rendition of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” caught the ear of Bauhaus guitarist David J, who commented, “A colony of bats burst out from the Forest of Dean to the soundtrack of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ fed through a contemporary minimalist dystopian filter. The tight rhythmic dub echoes making for a propulsive drive that sees this compact and condensed cover rush past the finishing line in misty Transylvania.”
Having had a triumphant return to the U.S. earlier this year on tour with Spacehog, EMF was riding on a crest of newfound and rejuvenated popularity. Their fifth album The Beauty and the Chaos (released in January 2024), which included the critically-hailed single “Hello People,” garnered pages of glowing press including British tome Retropop who hailed that the album “reaffirms EMF’s place in the pop landscape and proves, even three decades later, they’re still capable of delivering material to the standard of their classic recordings.” With dozens of glowing press coverage that extended to the U.S. with features in SPIN, Consequence, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Rock And Roll Globe, among dozens of others., EMF’s return was heralded with welcoming open arms.
Exploding on the U.K. scene in November 1990 with their debut album Schubert Dip, EMF made quite an entrance with their inescapable and irresistibly catchy single “Unbelievable,” which conquered the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. The single was certified gold in May 1991 in the U.S., and it sold over 500k. The song was in such heavy rotation for most of the year in America that it finished as the #6 single overall. Schubert Dip was certified platinum in the U.S. by September of that year, selling over one million.
With more announcements coming very soon, EMF have gifted fans with this holiday classic to tide them over. “I dreamed of being able to do a cover of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” says Dench with a sinister smirk. “There’s a ghoulish significance to releasing EMF’s version almost exactly 43 years closer to the grave.”
EMF are James Atkin (vocals, guitars, programming), Ian Dench (guitars, programming), Derry Brownson (samples), Stevey Marsh (bass), and Aid Todd (drums).
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