# “We were still trying to press buttons”: Cabaret Voltaire on ‘Code’, industrial music and saying goodbye

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/we-were-still-trying-to-press-buttons-cabaret-voltaire-on-code-industrial-music-and-saying-goodbye/
- Published: 2026-10-22T13:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T14:55:56+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/cabaret-voltaire-looks-back-at-codes-legacy-as-synthpunks-came-to-close/

## Key points

- Cabaret Voltaire are revisiting their catalogue on a farewell tour.
- The remastered 1987 album *Code* marks a shift towards digital sounds.
- Adrian Sherwood helped shape the record’s club and dub influences.

## Summary

Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson have returned to the band’s catalogue for a farewell tour, revisiting decades of work after co-founder Richard H Kirk died. Mallinder says performing across the group’s history has given him and the others a broader view of its changing sound, while a remastered edition of 1987’s *Code* has brought renewed attention to a transitional record.

*Code* captured the band as analogue equipment met emerging digital technology, and as Cabaret Voltaire moved towards club-oriented electronic music and industrial funk. Sessions used familiar Roland synths alongside a Yamaha DX7 and E-mu SP-1200, with improved studio facilities and dub producer Adrian Sherwood contributing; the group’s live set now places tracks such as ‘Sex, Money, Freaks’ alongside earlier songs including ‘Nag Nag Nag’.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.