With Neil Arthur’s dramatic voice and arresting lyrics, and absolute killer songs, Blancmange racked up eight hit singles during their imperial phase in the first half of the 1980s. While coping with the not always welcome attention that pop fame gave him, Neil and Stephen Luscombe threw in the towel after a Greenpeace concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1986.
Nearly 25 years later, they returned with a new album, ’Blanc Burn’, after which Stephen stepped aside due to health problems, leaving Neil to fly the Blancmange flag solo. Since then he’s released more the a dozen albums, with 2022’s ‘Private View’ seeing the band signed to London Records once again with synth legend Benge on production duties.
Blancmange’s Electronic Sound session was more powerful than we could have hoped for. Modular synth maestro Finlay Shakespeare hooked his handbuilt synth rack into the Blancmange pop machine, while Neil Arthur gave a performance of 100 per cent commitment. The result is a huge-sounding powerhouse of re-energised 80s pop hits and new material every bit the equal of their best-loved work.
Blancmange:
Neil Arthur – vocals
Finlay Shakespeare – synthesizers
Visuals by Harvey Wise, Michael Costiff & Rupert Howe
Set list:
- Reduced Voltage
- Feel Me
- Some Times These
- What’s The Time?
- Last Night I Dreamt I Had A Job
- Living On The Ceiling
- Blind Vision
Issue 93 Mag & Music Bundle
We’re delighted to have Blancmange main man Neil Arthur on the cover of the latest issue of Electronic Sound in print – and a special dot-to-dot image of him, no less. We have a limited edition pink vinyl seven-inch to accompany the magazine too, with the awesome ‘Living On The Ceiling’ on the A-side.
