Whether because of those inherent limitations or simply his own inclinations, Palmer didn’t explore the outer limits of synth-rock on Clues. Instead, he developed a hybrid of modern rock, blue-eyed soul, and future pop, honing his hooks so the music feels immediate even when it flirts with the esoteric. Palmer was interested in aesthetics, not the avant-garde; all the electronics give the music shape and texture. The increased aural definition accentuates Palmer’s sharpened melodies while also shrouding the record in a fashionable facade that pushed Clues slightly to the left of the mainstream’s center in 1980.
Considering the intentional chill that Clues exudes, it’s easy to overestimate the influence Numan had on the record, positioning him as the Brian Eno to Palmer’s David Bowie. The synth-rocker only appears on one cut on Clues, a cover of Numan’s dystopian ballad “I Dream of Wires,” and co-wrote one other song, “Found You Now,” an exercise in Moroccan funk. Numan passed through Compass Point on his way to Japan, and his presence on Clues also feels oddly transient; he’s responsible for colorful accents, not the underlying structure.
It’s possible Numan’s synths drove Palmer to create “Johnny & Mary,” the album’s exquisitely eerie first single. The song appears to rise from the electronic ether, a tale of a romance that’s withered into a cycle of codependency, set to a circular minor-key melody. Plenty of the story is left unsaid and, appropriately, parts of the arrangement seem missing, with its nocturnal pulse accentuated by smears of synth and shards of guitar. It’s so spare, it can still seem startling, capturing the feeling when the promise of the future starts to fade.
“Johnny & Mary” finds a companion in “Looking for Clues,” a jittery piece of funk whose modernism is informed by Talking Heads. Indeed, Heads drummer Chris Frantz, a friend and Nassau neighbor of Palmer’s, plays percussion on the track; Palmer returned the favor on Talking Heads’ Remain in Light, released a few months after Clues. Frantz noted in his memoir that “Robert appreciated the value of a good rhythm section,” which is a reflection of Palmer’s unusual compositional process. Palmer told Fricke in 1979, “I put a groove down on the drums and try to think of a melody to sing.” His rendition of “Not a Second Time,” a song plucked from With the Beatles, was also the result of his rhythm-first approach—once he had the beat in place, he realized the Beatles’ deep cut was a good melodic fit—yet “Not a Second Time” is also indicative of the fact that Clues doesn’t strictly adhere to synth rock. When Palmer was covering Numan in concert, he also was performing a version of “Kid” by the Pretenders, a sign that he was tapped into the more tuneful aspect of new wave.
