soul mining is very much of its time, with the anti-thatcher rally cries and drum machines that were lifted from the human league's studio. at the same time, it's like absolutely nothing else from 1983. johnson's peers were either gleefully wallowing in synth pop or turning into vampires. only johnson, perhaps because he has always been a little out of his mind, chose to walk that line between accessible pop (which also meant risking critical scorn) and high art.