Following the release of their new album Private View, Blancmange are on an extensive nationwide tour, bringing them to The Brook, Southampton, on November 5.
The album’s highlights include ‘Reduced Voltage’. With a cosmic feel, the song features David Rhodes’ guitar unfurling in waves of immersive tones alongside subtle electronics.
Neil Arthur explains: “I wanted a track driven by a singular minimal beat occasionally shot through with lyrical phrases. They’re thoughts, hints of an internal dialogue. Feel the groove, feel the pain.”
He adds: “Me and Benge stripped away some of the original layers of detail to make the track groove. Increasing the impact by reducing the content.”
Across the new album, there’s a deft marriage of futuristic electronic sounds, Arthur’s unmistakable vocal hooks, and songs that veer from buoyant and joyful to dark and brooding. Benge returns as a key collaborator, and David Rhodes (Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Scott Walker) returns as the guitarist, having previously performed with the band on 1982’s debut Happy Families (as well as several other Blancmange albums).
In their post-punk early days, Blancmange made tape loops and experimental sounds with kitchen utensils, before developing into one of the definitive chart-topping British electronic pop acts. Since reforming in 2011 (Luscombe had to leave 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.
“I don’t know whether I’m on a roll but I feel something in me has been released,” he says.
“I used to hold back and I didn’t trust myself. While I’m still full of self-doubt I’m now quite comfortable with it. This is it. We’ve only got one time around the block, so make the most of it.”
The past is used as a trigger to create new ideas and build fresh momentum, not as somewhere to linger. “A lot of people are frightened of the future and are quite happy to have a repeat of something that was done before,” he says. “But it’s just not for me. Looking forward you’ve got a hell of a world to try and navigate through at the moment. We’re all moving forward – so we’ve got to try and find some answers.”
- Blancmange will be at The Brook on November 5. For tickets and more information, click here.
Further dates on the tour:
4 Nov – Exeter Theatre, Exeter – w/ Rodney Cromwell
5 Nov – The Brook, Southampton – w/ Rodney Cromwell
10 Nov – The Mill, Birmingham – w/ Alice Hubble
11 Nov – Kanteena, Lancaster – w/ Alice Hubble
12 Nov – The Forum Theatre, Barrow-in-Furness – w/ Alice Hubble
17 Nov – Corn Hall, Diss – w/ Rodney Cromwell
18 Nov – Gorilla, Manchester – w/ Stephen Mallinder
19 Nov – Hangar 34, Liverpool – w/ Stephen Mallinder
24 Nov – The Wardrobe, Leeds – w/ Stephen Mallinder
25 Nov – The Leadmill, Sheffield – w/ Stephen Mallinder
26 Nov – The Riverside, Newcastle – w/ Stephen Mallinder
1 Dec – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen – w/ Stephen Mallinder
2 Dec – The Liquid Room, Edinburgh – w/ Stephen Mallinder
3 Dec – Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow – w/ Stephen Mallinder
9 Dec – Concorde 2, Brighton – w/ Stephen Mallinder
10 Dec – Islington Assembly Hall, London – w/ Stephen Mallinder
- In Common is not for profit. We rely on donations from readers to keep the site running. Could you help to support us for as little as 25p a week? Please help us to carry on offering independent grass roots media. Visit: https://www.patreon.com/incommonsoton