INXS The Swing

INXS’s fourth album is, in many ways, the bridge between the post-punk and New Romantic leanings of earlier records and the stadium-filling funk rock of future efforts such as 1987’s Kick. And who better to guide them on that transition than Chic bandleader and funk-guitarist extraordinaire Nile Rodgers, who produced the album’s opening track and first single, “Original Sin”. The song owes more to Rodgers than its precise stabs of funk guitar and Jon Farriss’ rock-solid backbeat—it was Rodgers who suggested vocalist Michael Hutchence inject an interracial slant into the chorus, changing the lyrics from “Dream on white boy, dream on white girl” to “Dream on white boy, dream on black girl”. The remainder of the album was produced in England by Nick Launay, who used his experience with acts such as Midnight Oil, Gang of Four and The Birthday Party to bring a hard, bass-driven edge to songs like “Melting in the Sun”, while singles “I Send a Message”, “Dancing on the Jetty” and “Burn For You” are the work of a band fine-tuning their commercial edge.