Tin Drum continued the band's now-established mix of electronic elements with
traditional instrumentation, but leans far more towards
Far Eastern influences than any of their previous albums. Lead guitarist
Rob Dean had departed in May 1981 and vocalist/songwriter/second guitarist
David Sylvian had taken on his duties, which had been very greatly reduced by the band's change of musical direction.
Brooklyn Rail writer Paul Grimstad described the album's sound as "mannered
cubist pop". Musically,
Tin Drum was a meticulously crafted blend of complex rhythms, keyboard textures, and
Mick Karn's bass playing. Keyboardist
Richard Barbieri recalled that recording the album "was a very laborious process, but creatively satisfying(...) it was the first album where we actually produced something (...) completely original." Also important for the band finding their own unique sound was their work with
Steve Nye, who had replaced
John Punter as the band's producer. In a 1982 interview, Sylvian commented that by the making of
Tin Drum, Karn had become more preoccupied with his own projects and was not involved as much as he was on previous albums, essentially, in Sylvian's view, becoming little more than a "
session musician". Others who remember the recording of the album, however do not share this view of Karn's involvement. In addition to drums,
Steve Jansen also contributed keyboards and
marimba and was given song writing credits together with Sylvian on two tracks. "Sons of Pioneers" was based on the bassline composed by Mick Karn, the first and only song writing credit Karn got on a Japan song. Lyrically, the songs include notions of romance, melancholia, travel and escape, and particularly David Sylvian's fascination for Eastern culture, which at times ("
Visions of China", "
Cantonese Boy") have a
satirical undercurrent. "
Ghosts" was Sylvian's most personal lyric to date, expressing notions of self-doubt, ambiguity, regret, and hope. == Recording ==