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God save the Queen (of gothic). While images and comments about Siouxsie Sioux's return to touring after ten years (with a stop in Milan on 7 May) flood the web, we retrace the threads of her career with this playlist of 25 tracks that – in a thoroughly subjective way – attempts to build a sort of “best of” of her many feats at the helm of the Banshees (and beyond). From her punk beginnings as an ex-groupie of the Sex Pistols, within the ranks of the infamous Bromley Contingent, to the gothic successes of the 80s and the pop-noir ballads of her maturity, a compendium of the art of darkness of the woman who was and remains the undisputed queen of a style and an approach that defined an era. Whether she's back “to chop off the heads of those poor fools who fancied they'd usurped her throne” – as Marco Pipitone argues in Il Fatto Quotidiano – or whether she simply did it to top up the household finances, it makes no difference to us: we celebrate Susan Janet Ballion's return to the stage as an occasion to retrace a musical history of extraordinary allure and crucial influence on the generations that followed. And never mind if her vocal cords aren't quite what they were in the golden years… Long live the Queen!

25. Siouxsie – Into A Swan

We start – perhaps inevitably – from the end, which also marks the first time she recorded simply as “Siouxsie”. That is, the album “Mantaray”, released in 2008, a year after her split from Budgie, drummer and lifelong partner both in the Banshees and in the Creatures. The record is certainly not among her career highlights, but it does let a few flashes of her old brilliance shine through, as in this obsessive “Into A Swan”, packed with electronics, distortion and dark percussion. Proof that Siouxsie could still hold her own well into the 2000s.

24. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Not Forgotten

The last chapter under the name Siouxsie and the Banshees instead dates back to 1995, with the album “Rapture”. By then the sound had little in common with the band’s historic post-punk-era incarnation, but the charm of its frontwoman remains intact, now in the guise of a mature dark lady, here wrestling with the hammering, shadowy cadences of “Not Forgotten”, a track that, alongside a few well-placed lashes of guitar, also dusts off a funereal lyric worthy of the gothic era. Or of an episode of CSI (“You buried it so deep/ So safe in hidden sleep/ But like a tell-tale corpse/ Rises to the surface/ Over-ripe and bloated”).

23. The Creatures – Dancing On Glass

In 1981, during a break from the Banshees, Siouxsie formed the Creatures with her trusty Budgie, a percussion-driven duo drawn to exotic, tribal sounds. In 1983 they debuted on LP with “The Feast”, which features this “Dancing On Glass”: barely two minutes built entirely on minimalist drumming and Siouxsie’s hypnotic vocal, in a disorienting blend of exotica, Indian musical influences, art rock and (post-)punk. After the Banshees disbanded in 1996, the Creatures would grow from side project to full-time occupation, releasing three more albums, “Boomerang” (1989), “Anima Animus” (1999) and “Hái!” (2003), unfortunately not available on Spotify.

22. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Christine

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly playful tones: the Strawberry Girl and the Banana Split Lady are actually just two of the unsettling 22 personalities of American writer Chris Costner Sizemore, who was diagnosed in the 1950s with dissociative identity disorder (a story also told in the 1957 film “The Three Faces of Eve”). This chant-like track, complete with an organ riff, was inspired by her autobiographical novel “Eve” (the title of the single’s B-side, home to the woman’s most extreme identities, “Eve White” and “Eve Black”), and it would go on to dominate goth clubs, helping make the Siouxsie phenomenon even more accessible and popular. Pop, but with class and unease, on a track that also marks a sonic turning point for the band with the arrival of guitarist John McGeoch: it opens with an acoustic-guitar riff and proceeds over the hammering cadence of Steven Severin’s bass, while the chorus is carried by synthesizers and a flanger effect closes out the track.

21. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cities In Dust

The 1986 album “Tinderbox” marks another step in Siouxsie’s gradual realignment with pop conventions. Yet inventiveness and inspiration are not lacking, as in this sinuous dark-dance number driven by a synthesizer that even mimics the sound of bells. Siouxsie sings with fatalistic, decadent flair amid the ruins of a city turned to dust: “Cities In Dust” is Pompeii, destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The song describes the volcano and its magma chamber, the plight of the eruption’s victims, and the subsequent discovery and excavation of the city, not forgetting the obligatory gothic touch with a reference to the shrine of the Lares Familiares. “Cities in Dust” would become the biggest hit among the singles the Banshees had released up to that point, even crossing over into clubs thanks to its driving 4/4 rhythm. Among its fans: Brett Anderson of Suede, who would name it among his favourite songs, and Shirley Manson’s Garbage, who would even cover it.

20. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Happy House

One of the most eccentric tracks from the English band’s early period, destined also to become one of their most celebrated hits. “Happy House” plays entirely on the theme of the home as a maternal symbol and on individual loneliness, with a particularly resourceful Budgie drawing on his interest in African polyrhythms to weave in reggae cadences, while McGeoch spins his sharp riffs. “We almost invented a new sound with this single, phase two of the Banshees,” Siouxsie would later recall, stressing the sarcastic nature of the lyrics, which mock the hypocrisy of families that are idyllic only on the surface. “Just like in adverts.” It would also captivate The Weeknd, who sampled it on his “House Of Balloons”.

19. Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Last Beat Of My Heart (live, 1991)

But there is also a romantic soul beating within Siouxsie’s (witch-like) body. “The Last Beat Of My Heart” – captured here in the poignant live version recorded in 1991 at Lollapalooza – is its purest, most melodramatic essence, with its plea to a lover not to leave her, since she longs to stay close to him until her heart’s very last beat. A sweeping, atmospheric ballad, carried by strings and accordion, sung by a Siouxsie with her heart in pieces. It would even land on Spin’s list of the “50 Greatest Alt-Rock Love Songs”. And it would win over unlikely admirers too, such as Arcade Fire, who covered it on their 2006 EP “Curse Your Little Heart”. Considerably less romantic is the title of the album from which it was released as the third single: “Peepshow”.

18. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Face To Face

Cinema would also help boost Mrs. Ballion’s standing at the dawn of the 1990s, thanks to the most gothic of superheroes: yes, of course, Batman. Siouxsie and the Banshees, together with Danny Elfman, were offered the chance to compose a track for the soundtrack of “Batman Returns”, the film by another master of the gothic, Tim Burton. It’s an enveloping, orchestral, hypnotic ballad, which Siouxsie delivers with her usual flair, and which directly evokes a scene from the film in which Batman and Catwoman find themselves quite literally Face To Face, in a sensual and dangerous dance.

17. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Fireworks

The Nineties also brought the precious anthology “Twice Upon A Time” (1992), through which Polydor unearthed singles never released on LP along with other rarities, completing the collection begun ten years earlier with “Once Upon A Time”. Among the tracks is this sparkling (nomen omen) single called “Fireworks”, released only on 7" in 1982, right in the middle of the band's golden era, between the albums “Juju” and “A Kiss In The Dreamhouse”. Everything hinges on the guitars, bass and strings that burst in, lending a touch of pathos and sensuality. Frantic rhythms and a spellbinding vocal, with an (inevitable) fireworks-display finale.

16. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Melt!

Over the course of the Eighties, the exuberant punk brat of the early days gradually transformed into a more mature, elegant vocalist, veering towards a more composed song-form. Clear signs of this transformation can already be heard on 1982's “A Kiss In The Dreamhouse”, from which we've picked one of the most “necrophiliac” tracks in her entire catalogue: an ode to eros and thanatos, with rather explicit lines like “every single sigh leads to an insatiable desire for suicide in sex” or “in the back of a long black car, fleeing from a funeral of flowers, with my hand between your melting legs”... “Melt!”, the sexiest dissolution ever put to tape.

15. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Dazzle

A love-hate relationship, that between Siouxsie and Robert Smith, friends/rivals competing for the throne of darkwave in the first half of the '80s. In 1984 the Banshees' singer once again summoned the Cure frontman to her court to play guitar on the album “Hyaena”. His contribution helps soften the Banshees' sound even further. And the finest example of this new direction is a genuine pop symphony, with drums, strings and a spare introductory piano (dubbed the “Baby Piano”) in service of Siouxsie's evocative, seductive voice. A glittering prize called “Dazzle”.

14. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Night Shift

“Ju-Ju” is arguably Siouxsie and the Banshees' masterpiece, the record that marks the peak of their chemistry and the sublimation of their murky sonic brew. To the catacomb-like visions, the English romanticism and the typical taste for the occult, Siouxsie here adds a fascination with the rites and witchcraft liturgies of deepest Africa (“ju-ju” being a Nigerian musical tradition). And “Night Shift” is a true ceremony, a ballad of demonic majesty: Siouxsie's night unfolds in an imaginary mossy graveyard on the moors of Albion, crowded with vampires, zombies and killers: “The cold marble slab submits at my feet/ With a sweet dissection/ Looking so sweet to me – please come to me/ With your cold flesh – my cold love…”.

13. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Red Light

Having recruited the formidable John McGeoch on guitar (already a veteran of Magazine), Siouxsie and the Banshees released “Kaleidoscope” in 1980, which also yielded their first hits, such as “Christine” and “Happy House”. But the London outfit also revealed an increasingly electronic, experimental side, with brooding synths and ever more claustrophobic beats, as on this splendid snapshot called “Red Light”, obsessively punctuated by the clicks of a camera: the red light switching on and Siouxsie letting herself be pierced by the flash as she repeats her increasingly alienated, detached (and reverb-drenched) vocal, in full new wave style.

12. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Hong Kong Garden

The single that started it all. A gloomy Japanese ballet unfolding into a kind of danse macabre. A kung-fu blow called “Hong Kong Garden” (1978), a guaranteed knockout from its irresistible intro onward. With curious lyrics, written by Ballion herself, about the abuse inflicted on the Chinese community at the restaurant she used to frequent with friends. This is where the myth of Siouxsie (short for Susan) and the Banshees (literally “women's spirits foretelling death”) was born. Playing on the track is the group's original line-up, formed around the Siouxsie-Steven Severin duo, with guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris.

11. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Turn To Stone

The “return to stone” is in fact a further step towards a refined maturity. If the album “Peepshow” (1988) seems to have lost a little of the drive and vibrant energy of the early records, Siouxsie once again proves her versatility as a captivating performer, still managing to pull off moments of pure class, like this sinuous, gripping “Turn To Stone”, placed seventh in the tracklist. Those still clinging to the post-punk past may turn up their noses, but everyone else applauds the successful metamorphosis.

10. Siouxsie and the Banshees – This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us

While many consider Siouxsie's definitive covers to be "The Passenger" (Iggy Pop) and "Dear Prudence" (The Beatles), we've chosen another feat found on "Through The Looking Glass", the album that finds the London singer tackling a series of tributes to some of her favourite artists (from the Doors to Roxy Music, from Bob Dylan to Television and Kraftwerk). The reinterpretation of a song that's already a stroke of genius in its own right, "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" by Sparks (from the landmark "Kimono My House"), rests entirely on the London singer's light-and-shade timbres, as she machine-guns the Mael brothers' lyrics over frenzied post-punk cadences, in a dizzying acceleration punctuated by John Valentine Carruthers' roaring guitar riffs. Siouxsie in Wonderland.

9. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Switch

The last flourish of the debut album. "The Scream" (1978) is an ambivalent record: raw and prescient at the same time. It's still post-punk, but already with one foot in the dark-gothic territory where the Banshees would soon put down roots. The grand finale of "Switch" shows off the full solidity and potential of the English band: the pace accelerates into a driving rhythm, though never quite reaching punk fury. The sax is sinister, the arpeggiated riff hypnotic, then reverberated and gloomy, the voice turning prophetic and hallucinated once more, the percussion dry and tribal. And Siouxsie stamps it with her definitive mark, a monumental hymn to drama.

8. Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Staircase (Mystery)

If "dark-punk" ever existed, a track like this should be its perfect synthesis. The rock'n'roll frenzy of the early records dissolves into a whirlwind of horror-movie suspense that brushes against the murkiest, most hypnotic psychedelia: lifts, spiral staircases, railings and graveyards animate a Hitchcockian climax, skilfully fuelled by Severin's basslines and McKay's guitar hooks, more metallic and unsettling than ever. The perfect setting for a new, unhinged take on Siouxsie, more than ever the gothic high priestess with her trademark look: black wig, white greasepaint and heavy make-up, necrophiliac symbols and sadomasochistic leather outfits.

7. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Metal Postcard

Martial rhythms, razor-sharp riffs and unsettling lines like "Metal is tough, metal will sheen/ Metal won't rust when oiled and cleaned" yowled by Siouxsie in a rasping register worthy of Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich. "Metal Postcard" is a tribute to the anti-Nazi artist John Heartfield, through which the band sought to distance itself from the accusations stirred up by the media at the time when Siouxsie, purely out of provocation, sported a swastika armband (a stunt that also earned her a boycott from the Clash). A gloriously paranoid track: this is punk that has lost its "white riot" spirit and would rather retreat into the darkest corners of the mind, feeding nightmares, paranoia and alienation. It would later be reinterpreted in German too, under the title "Mittageisen".

6. Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Ghost In You

The Siouxsie you don't expect, championing civil rights in support of the Chinese youth of Tiananmen Square in a moving ballad with an Eastern-tinged flavour. "Torni a Tiannammen… per vederli cadere, per sentirli arrendersi, svelando il terrore della folla", sings the Pistols' former groupie. And further on: "Il tuo cuore prigioniero, l'idea che condividi con un bacio eterno, gli spiriti della piazza". No lapse into rhetoric here: the song works, thanks to the restraint of the performance and the lovely melodic turn of the chorus. It may not rank among her all-time hits, but it easily (and permanently) earns a place in this writer's heart.

5. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Playground Twist

The real crossover into gothic territory happens starting with the sophomore album, "Join Hands", where Susan's mesmeric vocals come into their own on taut, dismal tracks like this nursery rhyme, terrifying in its alienating refrain, which spins a surreal alto sax and funeral bell tolls (tolling for the dead, of course) into a shroud of metallic distortion. "You can drown when you're shallow" ("Puoi annegare quando sei superficiale") the chanteuse of London suburbia menacingly warns. Produced by manager Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou, sound engineer for T. Rex's Marc Bolan (a glam idol of Siouxsie's, alongside David Bowie), "Playground Twist" features a shift into 3/4 time, unusual for rock music. A sinister "playground" that Nme's Roy Carr compared to the films of Ingmar Bergman, noting that it needed to be "listened to several times at a volume bordering on the unbearable to fully grasp its nightmarish quality". It also climbed the UK Chart (No. 28), earning the band a live performance on Top of the Pops.

4. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Spellbound

This one, on the other hand, is definitely one of her all-time hits: a devastating rock charge that would also become a live staple for Siouxsie, summing up all the coordinates of her darkwave sound: the fury of McGeogh's (acoustic) guitar and Budgie's obsessive tribal percussion, wedded to Severin's throbbing bass, throw open the gates of hell, while Susan sings like a witch possessed, in a whirlwind of sonic disfigurement and piercing screams. Of punk, only the imprint remains — the chorus, the speed, the immediacy — but everything is draped in a black, cursed shroud. "Spellbound", an enchantment that plays like a curse.

3. Siouxsie & Morrissey – Interlude

Can a punk be romantic? Probably not. But, perhaps without even meaning to, Siouxsie manages to be exactly that alongside another friend/enemy, Steven Patrick Morrissey, by then free of the Smiths and in the mood for refined, chiaroscuro tenderness. The Manchester songwriter has in hand a track written in 1968 by Georges Delerue and Hal Shaper and originally performed by Italian-American singer Timi Yuro, for the soundtrack of the film of the same name directed by Kevin Billington. He proposes to Susan that they turn it into a duet. And it's instant magic, with Moz's chant-like delivery pairing with the shadowy tones of the Banshees' vocalist for a memorable, timeless ballad. But it may prove too much for the pair, who go back to their respective individual rough edges, closing the chapter there.

2. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Israel (live)

In 1983 a brief split occurs within the Banshees, who divide into two pairs: Siouxsie and Budgie form The Creatures project, releasing the album “Feast”, while Steven Severin founds the duo The Glove with Robert Smith. The triumphant return of the Siouxsie and the Banshees name is celebrated in 1983 with a live event that is historic in its own way: the “desecration” of London's austere Royal Albert Hall by hordes of young punks and goths. An event documented on the splendid double live album “Nocturne”, in which Siouxsie confirms herself as a dazzling performer: she sings, dances barefoot, throws herself to the ground and drips mascara from her striking “war paint”. Opening the show is one of the Banshees' masterpieces: a “Christmas” single (in their own way!) originally recorded in 1980 with a Welsh choir on backing vocals. Preceded in the concert by a bizarre instrumental intro that resembles a witches' dance, it's a majestic, swelling anthem sung theatrically by Siouxsie over a dark backdrop, driven by Severin's obsessive bass pulses and Budgie's tumultuous drumming. “Israel” would go on to become a live staple and would dazzle several artists too, including Jean-Benoît Dunckel of Air, who called it “one of his ten favourite songs of all time”, Ride and producer Howie B. (Björk, Tricky).

1. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Arabian Knights

A Siouxsie straight out of the Arabian Nights. From the landmark album “Ju-Ju” from 1981, a simply magnificent track, suspended between archaic atmospheres and Middle Eastern flavours, with its constant shifts in rhythm spilling into a frenzied gallop and lyrics that almost read as an invective against the Westernisation of Arabia, but framed in a “demonic” context: “I heard a rumour, what have you done to her/ Veiled behind screens/ Kept as your baby machine/ Whilst you conquer more orifices”. Siouxsie is the undisputed ruler of this sonic ride through the deserts of Arabia with her wildly booming, sensual vocals, though credit must also go to Budgie's drumming and McGeoch's guitar lines, which became absolute technical benchmarks between 1980 and 1982. An exotic fascination that on the album – as mentioned – also brushes up against the tribalism of deep Africa. The use of ethnic music, combined with electronics, gives rise to a kind of hallucinated trance: not the only time for the Queen of the night, though here she reaches her apotheosis.

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20/01/2026