Before Underworld, Hyde and Smith started out in 1979 on The Screen Gemz band while working together in a diner in the city of Cardiff, where both had been studying. In 1983 they recorded two albums for CBS Records with a new wave synthpop band whose name was a graphic squiggle, later entitled Freur.
In 1986 Hyde and Smith formed Underworld, after disbanding of Freur. They tried a more guitar-oriented funky electropop sound on their two albums released on Sire Records: Underneath the Radar (1987) and Change the Weather (1989). This initial lineup (also called Underworld Mk1) consisted of Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, Alfie Thomas, Bryn Burrows, Baz Allen and Pascal Consoli before sinking back into obscurity and disbanding in 1990.
British DJ Darren Emerson hooked up with Hyde and Smith in 1992 and helped them refine their sound into something more sleek and beat-oriented, yet still shot through with tinges of blues, rock and spoken-word streams of consciousness. After several releases on Junior Boy's Own as Lemon Interupt, the trio re-adopted the Underworld name in 1992. Two songs from this era are Rez and Spikee.
In addition to their music, Hyde and Smith are members of Tomato, a graphic design company which has done high-profile work for clients around the world as well as art for all of Underworld's releases. Hyde, along with former Freur keyboardist John Warwicker, has also published two typographic journals, Mmm... Skyscraper, I Love You (1994) and In The Belly Of Saint Paul (2003).
Their first full-length, dubnobasswithmyheadman, was released in 1994 to rave reviews and is still considered a landmark. It spawned several hit singles (Dark & Long, Cowgirl, Dirty Epic) and was followed a couple years later by the Born Slippy single.
The sophomore album Second Toughest in the Infants was released in 1996. This album showed Underworld maturing as a trio, mixing elements of techno, house, drum and bass and pop music to spectacular effect. The first track Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of Love (three parts) is one of the longest songs recorded by Underworld, with a length of over 16 minutes.
In the same year they issued an EP Pearl's Girl, containing various mixes of the song Pearl's Girl and five new tracks (one of them is Cherry Pie, an early version of Rowla). Underworld's much-praised remixography also grew, including Björk, Saint Etienne, Simply Red, Massive Attack and Leftfield.
After licensing out a remix of Born Slippy (entitled Born Slippy .NUXX) for the 1996 cult classic film Trainspotting, Underworld gained instant worldwide fame and found themselves touring the world. Their fame continued to run high into the release of Beaucoup Fish in 1999. Five singles were released: Moaner, Push Upstairs, Jumbo, King of Snake, and Bruce Lee.
Underworld issued a live set and a DVD named Everything, Everything in 2000, after which Emerson left the group to concentrate more on his DJ career. The mellower album A Hundred Days Off followed in 2002. It was promoted by two singles: Two Months Off and Dinosaur Adventure 3D.
In 2003 Underworld released a 2 CD compilation entitled 1992-2002, comprising some of their best songs. Also since 2003 the group has been trickling out new music on their official website www.underworldlive.com via a series of downloadable mp3s dubbed "The Riverrun Project". Each mp3 bundle features 25-or-so-minute of mixed new material, hundreds of photographs and traditional album art.
In 2005 the band issued another live album, Live in Tokyo 25th November 2005, a recording of Underworld's live performance at the Electraglide festival in Tokyo on 25 November 2005. There were apparently only 7000 copies of the album made.
Oblivion with Bells, their fifth studio album was released in October 2007, the first with additional collaboration with Darren Price who joined the band's live setup in 2005. It spawned four singles: Crocodile, Boy, Boy, Boy, Beautiful Burnout, and Ring Road.
On 13 May 2010, Underworld released a new single Scribble (Radio Edit), available for free download on their official site. This single was followed by a new album later that year, called Barking, which is still in the process of releasing singles, beginning with the aforementioned Scribble, Always Loved a Film and finally Diamond Jigsaw. Also released on a beatport remix contest was Bird 1 where amateur producers were able to put their take on Underworld's collaboration with Dubfire. As of 2011, the duo can also attach to their resumes soundtracking a live stage play. Frankenstein, produced and directed by Danny Boyle, starring both Johnny Lee Miller & Benedict Cumberbatch who are, on alternating nights, both Frankenstein, or the Creature. The Soundtrack is available through Underworld's Website.
January 2016 saw the release of I Exhale, in advance of Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future, released in March 2016.
In April 2018, Underworld released a standalone single, Brilliant Yes That Would Be, an ambient piece with its accompanying video inspired by the Icelandic landscape and their first performance in Reykjavík since 1994.
In May 2018, Underworld unveiled the World of Underworld project, which focuses on reflecting and re-imagining their nearly 30 year body of work. It also serves as an outlet for experimentation, new releases and spontaneous creativity. Brilliant Yes That Would Be was the first track to be released through the World of Underworld, which was recorded and mixed just days before it was released.
Later in that same month, Underworld debuted a new collaboration with Iggy Pop titled Bells & Circles, live at the BBC Biggest Weekend 2018. Shortly after, a four-track collaborative EP with the two artists was released, Teatime Dub Encounters.
On November 1st, 2018, Underworld announced the Drift project, an ongoing music-and-video experiment that publishes new Underworld material on their official website every week. The first instalment began with Another Silent Way, also released on the same day.
On November 1st, 2019, Underworld released Drift Series 1, their tenth studio album. It is the conclusion of the first year of the band's year-long music-and-video experiment Drift. Underworld announced the Drift project will continue on for another year. The now-renamed Drift Series 1, was released exactly one year after the launch of the series, as a box set featuring 7 CDs, a Blu-ray, and an 80-page book documenting the creative process around Drift. A single-disc Drift Series 1 Sampler Edition was also released simultaneously.
Sola Sistim
Underworld Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My black cold numbers,
My insecurities,
My devious nature,
Make it go away.
My rest between rubber,
My spider shadow,
Beautiful, broken,
My crystal fingers.
Beautiful, broken,
My crystal fingers.
My glass like rain,
My illumination,
My cracks are sliding,
Shaker, feather,
Rubber, duster,
Cold, cold,
Your fingers, broken.
Beautiful, wonderful,
Paper flaps,
How you love,
Love to love,
Love and stitch,
Shaker, rubber, striper.
Beautiful, broken,
My crystal fingers.
Beautiful, broken,
My crystal fingers.
The lyrics of Sola Sistim by Underworld are complex and poetic, leaving a lot of room for interpretation. The song seems to be a reflection on the singer's insecurities, fears, and deceptive tendencies, which they want to overcome or escape. The imagery used in the lyrics is vivid and surreal, evoking a sense of fragmentation and fluidity.
The first stanza suggests that the singer feels exposed and vulnerable ("My eyes burn naked"), as if their true self is on display. They describe themselves as "black cold numbers," which could mean that they see themselves as a statistic or a data point, rather than as a unique individual. The mention of their "insecurities" and "devious nature" suggests that they don't have a lot of trust in themselves or others. They want to "make it go away," but it's unclear whether they mean their insecurities or the world that triggers them.
The second stanza is more abstract, with a series of phrases that create a dreamlike or hallucinatory atmosphere. The singer finds some solace in their "rest between rubber," which could mean a suspension of reality or being caught in a fantasy. They see their own shadow as a "spider," which could suggest a predatory or sinister aspect to their personality. The mention of a "shattered [shadow] dancer" implies some kind of loss or brokenness, perhaps a sense of failure or trauma.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Beautiful, broken, my crystal fingers" twice. This could be a metaphor for the singer's fragile and precious nature, as well as their ability to create or manipulate things with their hands. The mention of a "glass like rain" could mean that the singer feels delicate and transparent, like a raindrop. The imagery of "cracks sliding" and "shaker, feather, rubber, duster" creates a sense of instability or unpredictability.
Overall, the lyrics of Sola Sistim suggest a complex and ambiguous mood of uncertainty, vulnerability, and creativity.
Line by Line Meaning
My eyes burn naked,
I feel exposed and vulnerable, my guard is down
My black cold numbers,
I am consumed by my own darkness, my calculations are emotionless
My insecurities,
I am uncertain and unsure of myself
My devious nature,
I have a sly and cunning tendency
Make it go away.
I wish for these negative feelings to disappear
My rest between rubber,
I find solace in the safe, familiar inanimate world around me
My spider shadow,
I am quick, nimble, and always flitting about in the corners of my mind
My shattered [shadow] dancer.
In the fractured parts of myself, there is still a graceful movement and beauty
Beautiful, broken,
Even in their broken form, there is an inherent beauty
My crystal fingers.
My hands are delicate and fragile, yet sharp and cutting
My glass like rain,
My emotions come down like a rainstorm, but are transparent and fragile
My illumination,
I have the ability to light up and show a different side of myself
My cracks are sliding,
My flaws are shifting and evolving
Shaker, feather,
I am always in motion, light as a feather but with a powerful tremble
Rubber, duster,
I am adaptable and can fit into seemingly any situation, always ready to clean up and start anew
Cold, cold,
I am calculated and logical, but also have an icy nature
Your fingers, broken.
The broken parts of you can be seen through your hands
Beautiful, wonderful,
There is beauty in every aspect, no matter how chaotic or broken
Paper flaps,
Fleeting moments and emotions that are light as air and easily blown away
How you love,
Love is expressed in a unique and special way
Love to love,
The act of loving is what brings validation and happiness
Love and stitch,
Love has the ability to heal and bring things back together
Shaker, rubber, striper.
Different parts of myself that are always in motion
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Mute Song Limited
Written by: K. HYDE, R. SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ALIENIGENA7777
Come get some orange juice, it's great.
[repeated throughout the song]
My eyes burn naked,
my black cold numbers,
my insecurities,
my devious nature,
make it go away.
My rest between rubber,
my spider shadow,
my shattered dancer.
Beautiful, broken,
my crystal fingers,
beautiful, broken,
my crystal fingers.
My glass like rain,
my illumination,
my cracks are sliding,
shaker, feather,
rubber, duster,
cold, cool,
your fingers, broken,
beautiful, wonderful,
paper flaps,
how you love,
love to love,
love and stitch,
shaker, rubber, striper.
Beautiful, broken,
my crystal fingers,
beautiful, broken,
my crystal fingers.
@fraserthomson5766
Sorry Underworld, I know you've got hundreds of other songs, but if your entire career was about 1 thing, this song is it. Utterly sublime. Bravo.
@CSMITH901
i have been playing this song for 20 years and i still love it
@Phil-For-Reel
Same
@stefaniacontessa
Same! ❤🎉❤
@ScorpioMojo
It is a hauntingly beautiful song 🎵
@AaronGarcia21045
my buddy put this on during the peak of my first ever mushroom trip. It now holds a special place in my heart.
@flordecera4489
Listened to this song on the peak of one of my acid trips and it sticks to me even after 22 years. This song is forever a part of me
@drrockkso8882
Holy shit that is EXACTLY how I first discovered this track too. My friends and I were all taking mushrooms for the first time one Saturday during college and one friend (who was a big Underworld fan) put Sola Sistim on as we were all peaking. Blew my mind. Every time I listen to this song it takes me back to that day.
@synpathetic1828
Still jammin in 2024! Like true love, like vampires...this tune never dies!
@lukastheinfinite7311
I don't know, maybe I'm mistaken, but... this seems to be the best song I've ever listened to... There is something unique about this song...