This is a post written many months ago but has continually been shelved to make space for stuff from various guest contributors or to enable the continuation of various series on the blog. It was inspired, quite a long while back, by SWC over at No Badger Required when he looked back at some of his favourite music from 1993 and made mention of Eject, a single by Senser.
There was a short period, maybe about twelve months in time, in which I really believed Senser were going to take the music industry by storm. It was Jacques the Kipper who first drew this lot to my attention. I’ve lifted the next few paras from all music.
In the early ’90s, when the cross-pollination of rock, rap, and electronica swept through the popular music industry, Senser emerged as one of the more promising groups, garnering plenty of attention and hype before the London band’s line up splintered following only one album.
Began in South West London in the late ’80s, Senser boasted a large and diverse roster of musicians: Andy Clinton (DJ), Heitham Al-Sayed (vocals), Kerstin Haigh (vocals), James Barrett (bass), Nick Michaelson (guitar), John Morgan (drums), and Haggis (producer/engineer/programmer). These artists would integrate numerous styles — hip-hop, hard rock, dance, psychedelia, electronica, and more — into their music, drawing comparisons and affiliating themselves with other bands who took a similarly eclectic approach such as Ozric Tentacles. An appearance at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival was the culmination of Senser’s early gigs. Soon, the press began championing, or at least hyping, the band, and a record deal soon followed.
Senser’s first single, “Eject,” went straight to number one in the NME independent singles chart in early 1993 and went on to become the NME independent single of the year. Two more singles followed “Eject” — “The Key” and “Switch” — along with the band’s first full-length, Stacked Up, which entered the national charts at number four.
The band toured Europe behind the album, making a sincere effort to bring such issues as racism to the fore, expressing its sentiments with both the lyrics of frontman Heitham Al-Sayed and the band’s support of such organizations as the Anti-Nazi League. The band toured through 1993 and much of 1994 as well, following its high-profile appearance at the Reading Festival with another European tour, this time in support of the Rollins Band.
After so much touring, tension began to take its toll on Senser. There was a brief sabbatical from touring before Moby invited the band to support him in the U.S. and the band accepted the offer. This stateside visit proved to be the band’s breaking point, and several members — John Morgan, Heitham Al-Sayed, and Haggis– parted ways in August 1995.”
That covers the period I was interested in the band, but for the sake of completeness, Senser’s depleted line-up would record a second album in 1998 while the original line-up would get back together in 2004, since when there have been three further studio albums, but none since 2013.
The noise, intensity and energy of Stacked Up (purchased on CD) really appealed to me back in 1994. Up until December of that year, I was commuting daily between Glasgow and Edinburgh and on many occasions I would drown out the noise of the other train passengers by playing the C90 tape that I’d used to record the Senser album, filling up the spare 25 minutes with some b-sides and different mixes from earlier singles (also bought on CD).
None of the singles ever cracked the Top 40, but the album went straight in at #4 on the week of its release, which maybe is an indication that I wasn’t alone in having a fair amount of love and hopes for the band. Here’s some tracks from it:-
mp3: Senser – States Of Mind
mp3: Senser – Age of Panic
mp3: Senser – Switch
mp3: Senser – Worth
The b-side to the singles contained the occasional cover version:-
mp3: Senser – Channel Zero
mp3: Senser – Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun
The former is their take on a Public Enemy number, while the latter is a Beastie Boys original with which Senser closed their set at the Reading Festival in 1993.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I was a big fan of Senser. Live they were explosive, really intense. There’s some good stuff on the second and post-reformation albums, but it’s the debut which still resonates. The anger and frustration it vented at the time mirrors that of today, sadly, some 30 years later.
As the Robster says I also liked them very much in these days. It was a short periode when they made this cross-over thing and I have to admit that I forgot them but their songs still sounds fresh, raw and explosive. Thanks for bringing them back to memory.
Walter