Continuing FADER partner Benge as producer who worked on the recent BLANCMANGE albums ‘Unfurnished Rooms’, ‘Wanderlust’, ‘Mindset’ and ‘Commercial Break’, ‘Private View’ presents a striking opener in ‘What’s Your Name’; not a cover of the 1981 DEPECHE MODE tune, despite a sparse vibey start, it strums and crashes into action while Arthur uses a manipulated voice treatment to give a sense of other worldly alienation away from the indie rock track that this could easily be. FUTURE ISLANDS PEOPLE WHO AREN’T THERE ANYMORE 4AD It’s been a long wait for Future Islands’ latest effort, with it being four years since their last release, the acclaimed As Long As You Are. THE SMILE WALL OF EYES XL RECORDINGS 2022 was a breakthrough year for The Smile, the latest project from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, where the trio released its impressive debut studio [. Hearing ‘God’s Kitchen’ on the radio for the first time… I remember driving down the motorway, and it came on Peter Powell’s ‘Five 45s At 5. Blancmange is also reflected in the ongoing influence the music has on younger generations of artists and fans over the years.

Reduced Voltage juxtaposes pulsing synths with a dark, brooding vocal from Neil – a trope that appears across the set – while I Tried To Be You has an eerie electronic soundscape, enhancing the obsessive narrative of its lyrics.In June 2022, the modern-day Blancmange performed at the Meltdown Festival curated by the lady herself, at the aforementioned Southbank Centre. When Blanc Burn emerged to great acclaim in 2011, what – I wonder – were his ambitions for the reformed Blancmange? This neat, full circle is also reflected in the album itself, being the perfect crystallisation of four decades of Arthur’s creativity. Since reforming in 2011 (Luscombe left shortly after for health reasons) Arthur has harnessed a duality of experimentation and seamless pop melody to release a staggering 10 albums in the last decade. She was climbing up the PA, changing costumes, balancing along a bar between the audience and the orchestra pit in high heels and this fantastic blue suit.

A couple of weeks prior to our meeting, Neil had tweeted a picture of himself wearing the Indian-style linen tunic he’d first sported 38 years earlier, in the video for ‘The Day Before You Came’ – an Abba cover flavoured with the santoor and tabla of regular collaborators Deepak Khazanchi and Pandit Dinesh. Happy showers come and go / Migrating birds have my view / Have a pleasant trip…’ I’m sorry about this, it’s very embarrassing. We were on our way to the Brunel Rooms in Swindon to play in front of fifty people, and we went across three lanes of the M4! David was involved, plus Mark Nevin from Fairground Attraction – and Graham Henderson, who I’d done film music with.

She was thinking she’d just knock on the stage door, and somebody would say ‘I’ll take all the gear in! Four decades on from Blancmange’s first release, ‘Private View’ is a cohesive body of work and, with a creative streak that shows no sign of slowing down, one that has us itching to see where Neil takes his sound next. How Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe went from manipulating recordings of 1970s kitchen utensils to celebrating a string of 1980s chart smashes. Long-standing admirers include Moby , John Grant and Honey Dijon , who states that “ British synth pop was hugely influential in the burgeoning house music scene and Blancmange was a big part of that. It was great to play there, but I was looking around thinking ‘For some reason, I’m not enjoying this.