Blancmange’s Neil Arthur is taking a more intense approach to his latest album with a new energy.
His latest work builds on his previous release Unfurnished Rooms, described by Mojo as ‘detached, wistful, touched by computer-age unease.
The new album, called Wanderlust, has similar themes but wistfulness turns to anger; dislocation morphs into a powerful desire to be somewhere else, with a sense of someone fighting for forward motion, dreams, family and the joys of life while seeing, as Arthur puts it, ‘the pretence of a normal world being erased.’
Arthur came to prominence in 1982 with the release of Blancmange’s debut album Happy Families, which features the track Living on The Ceiling.
Blancmange’s second album, Mange Tout reached Number 8 in the UK charts in 1984 and spawned more hits – notably Blind Vision, Don’t Tell Me and a cover of ABBA’s The Day Before You Came.
His ability to craft tracks which hit the spot does not seem diminished, Radcliffe and Maconie on BBC 6 Music describe Wanderlust as “Absolutely brilliant” while Louder Than War said: “This album is potentially Neil Arthur’s finest work. It shows a man at the top of his game. Excellent stuff.”
Blancmange will be onstage at the Hare and Hounds in Birmingham on May 11.