Take the Leap!



Leap! and Take the Leap! are the names for Toyah Willcox's project subsequent to Ophelia's Shadow. It consists of six new tracks, either previously unrecorded or written for the new album, and eight older tracks re-recorded with her new band.

It was originally released as Leap!, a cassette-only tour album, and was sold at concerts during her 1993 tour. A CD version called Take the Leap! was released in Japan the following year. A UK release finally happened in 2006, and consequently original copies of the album have become much sought after. The album's first ever digital release came in December 2014 when it was made available to download at iTunes and Amazon and to stream via Spotify.

Again, it shows a change in style from previous recordings, and has a much more raw feel than the polished albums which preceded it. Many of the 6 'original/new' compositions had been written and demoed much earlier, including "Invisible Love" in 1989 with Simon Darlow. A glutch of demos recorded with Phil Nicholas in 1992, were also re-worked from their dancey ambient style into albums tracks with a rockier feel, namely "God Ceases to Dream" and "Now I'm Running". Another demo from these sessions with Nicholas, "Tears For Elie" found a home as a bonus track on the 2006 reissue CD, along with "Requite Me", a stray 1992 demo produced by Toyah and Simon Darlow. "God Ceases to Dream" is a track which was written and recorded as an ambient electronic demo with Phil Nicholas. It contains lyrics and melodies Toyah had originally written and performed with collaborative band side-projects, as the songs "Born Again" with Sunday All Over the World, and "Broken Special (The Island)" with Kiss of Reality. The latter was recorded and appeared on the Kiss of Reality sophoremore studio album, whilst "Born Again" was never recorded in studio. The chanting at the beginning of this album's version of "Ieya" are lyrics (which crib The Lord's Prayer) which also appeared on the Kiss of Reality album opening track "Harlequin (Holy Day)".

"Lust for Love" had previously been written and performed live as a Strange Girls song, and later recorded as a demo by Cris Bonacci and Toyah. The version found on this album is subtly altered.

"It's a Mystery" was due to appear on the album in a version recorded with Phil Nicholas and Friday Forever which was an African dance, tribal metal rock version. Complications at the time of original release meant this could not occur and a straightforward rock version featured. The 2006 reissue of Take the Leap! on Edsel includes this previously unreleased version.

Track listing

 * 1) "Now I'm Running" (Nicholas, Willcox)
 * 2) "Lust for Love" (Bonacci, Willcox)
 * 3) "Invisible Love" (Darlow, Willcox)
 * 4) "Name of Love" (Beggs, Willcox, Askew)
 * 5) "Winter in Wonderland" (Beggs, Willcox, Askew)
 * 6) "God Ceases to Dream" (Nicholas, Willcox)
 * 7) "Ieya" (Willcox, Bogen, Bush)
 * 8) "Waiting" (Willcox, Bray)
 * 9) "Neon Womb" (Willcox, Bush, Bogen)
 * 10) "Elusive Stranger" (Willcox, Bogen, Bush)
 * 11) "Our Movie" (Willcox, Bogen, Bush)
 * 12) "Thunder in the Mountains" (Willcox, Lee, Glockler)
 * 13) "I Wanna Be Free" (Willcox, Bogen)
 * 14) "It's a Mystery" (Hale; additional lyrics: Willcox)

NB Tracks 7−14 are completely re-recorded versions of tracks with same titles as earlier recordings. All bespoke to this album.

2006 CD bonus tracks
1. "Requite Me" (Demo) (Willcox, Darlow)

2. Tears for Elie" (Demo) (Willcox, Nicholas)

3. "Waiting" (Alternate Mix) (Willcox, Bray)

4. "It's a Mystery" (Weybridge Mix) (Hale)

Singles and EPs

 * Winter In Wonderland EP (Released in 2013)
 * Has God Ceased To Dream You EP (Released in 2014)
 * Whisper The Elixir EP (Free EP released in 2014)‡

‡To mark the album's twentieth anniversary, and first ever digital release, an EP of Take The Leap!-era material, entitled Has God Ceased To Dream You, was released in December 2014. In addition, a free digital EP of bonus material, also pertaining to the Take The Leap! album period, entitled Whisper The Elixir, was issued by Willcox's official website shortly after the release of Has God Ceased To Dream You. Its tracks were It’s A Mystery (Whispered Elixir Mix), It’s A Mystery (Distant Sirens Mix), It’s A Mystery (Acoustic Poolside) and Waiting (Alternate Mix).

Personnel

 * Toyah Willcox - vocals
 * Paul Beavis - drums, percussion
 * Jolyon Dixon - guitar ‡
 * Paul Luther - guitar ‡
 * John Wakefield - bass ‡
 * Stuart Ross - additional drums ‡

‡ members of Friday Forever

Production

 * Producer: Toyah Willcox
 * Engineers: Paul Nicholson, Chris Binns, Dave Kingsley
 * Arrangements: Willcox, Dixon, Luther, Wakefield, Ross