The guitar work of Craig Scanlon was something that, by this point, Fall fans likely had started to take for granted. He was in the mix since their debut, and the scratchy, strained quality of his playing was crucial to much of the band’s best work. So when he was sacked by MES in early ’96 (a decision the singer has since regretted), his absence opened up a glaring hole in the sound of the material that would become The Light User Syndrome. And try as she might, Brix couldn’t fill the space on her own. As much I love what she brought to the Fall in both of her stints in the group, her guitar playing was far too mannered and straightforward. She needed a Scanlon or a Bramah to provide some necessary six-string friction.

Producer Mike Bennett likely felt as I did as Brix’s guitar doesn’t take the lead role on this LP. Though she co-wrote a few of the songs, the record seems more curious about what newest member Julia Nagle could bring to the table with her keyboards and what Simon Wolstencroft was doing with his programmed drum beats. The most bracing songs on the record then — “He Pep!,” “The Coliseum” and “Cheetham Hill” — are those that embrace the synthetic side of the band.

The canvas of this record strangely turned out some of MES’s most widescreen views of British culture and politics. He seemed to predict the July 1996 bombing in Manchester with his song “Powder Keg,” gave lip service to the changing demographics and attitudes of the middle class of his home city (“The Coliseum”), and picked apart the tensions still present in the current geopolitical landscape (“Hostile” and “Oleano”). His concern for his country is palpable and provides The Light User Syndrome with a surprisingly warm heart.