BLANCMANGE PRIVATE VIEW BIOGRAPHY ALBUM OUT FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30
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‘Within myself there are no limits,’ says Blancmange’s Neil Arthur. ‘There's a massive palette inside and I will try anything.’
This sense of sonic limitlessness is evident across Blancmange’s expansive and prolific catalogue, which is about to be expanded with a new album, ‘Private View’. In their post punk early days, when Arthur formed the band with Stephen Luscombe in 1978, they made tape loops and experimental sounds with kitchen utensils, before developing into one of the definitive chart-topping electronic pop acts throughout the 1980s.
Since reforming to release ‘Blanc Burn’ in 2011 - with Luscombe leaving shortly after for health reasons - Arthur has harnessed this 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.’
Making the most of it is certainly something Arthur has been doing. In addition to the many Blancmange records (released since 2011 on his own label Blanc Check Records), there are multiple albums with side projects: Near Future with Jez Bernholz (solo artist and collaborator with Gazelle Twin), and Fader with long-time collaborator Benge (Wrangler, John Foxx, Creep Show).
On ‘Private View’ Benge returns as a key collaborator on ‘Private View’, and David Rhodes (Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Scott Walker) also returns as the guitarist, having previously performed with the band on 1982’s ‘Happy Families’ (as well as several other Blancmange albums). ‘Private View’ will be released on London Records almost exactly 40 years to the day since the label releasedBlancmange’s debut album ‘Happy Families’. This neat full circle of Blancmange re-signing to the same label that ignited things all those years ago is also reflected in the album itself, being the perfect crystallisation of four decades of creativity.
‘Private View’ is distinctly Blancmange while also expanding into new sonic terrain. 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.
The opening ‘What’s Your Name’ has an almost glam stomp to it, albeit filtered through heavy electronics to result in something tonally unique. First single ‘Some Times These’ takes a crunchy guitar riff from Rhodes that propulsively drives the track, before a melodic wash of synths join forces with Arthur's vocals, all the elements combining to create a hook-heavy piece of electronic art pop.‘Reduced Voltage’ has a swaggering electronic skip to it, with Rhodes’s guitar unfurling in waves of immersive tones alongside the subtle electronics; while ‘Chairs’ begins with a propulsive and beat-heavy charge before morphing into a wide-reaching track that defies conventional genre, structure, and lyrical approaches.
‘Private View’ captures the uncertainties of modern life but without being too on the nose. ‘Even though it was written in lockdown,’Arthur says. ‘I wanted to have something that looked beyond that. There is going to be a future and it's going to be difficult but we have no choice but to face it, so I had that in mind quite a lot.’
Arthur also dipped into some older memories for the record. The song 'Private View' is ‘A kind of spy hole looking back at scenes, thoughts, and desires, in order to find a way forward. The carousel is this Earth and our moments on it. 'Everything Is Connected',a pulsating piece of twisting electronics with a deeply infectious groove and chorus, was drawn from multiple, seemingly disparate references: a phone call fragmented by poor signal, a distant memory of Donald Campbell’s crash on Lake Coniston and the daily round of mundane domestic chores – all are connected.
Other memories triggered thoughts about his own family that in turn led to new songs. However, Arthur then takes something, personal or deeply emotional and manipulates it ‘To make something that's slightly more abstract.’ He adds: ‘I'm observing all this stuff and I twist it around instead of saying directly: this is what's happening. If I maintain the ambiguity, it leaves space for other interpretations.’
The deeply atmospheric ‘Here We Go Go’ - merging slowly unfurling beats with gently bubbling synths and a rousing vocal delivery - is a song that has been around since the 1980s. ‘I have these ideas in my head but I won't go into a studio until they are settled and I can let go of them,’ he says. ‘For years I just couldn't figure out what to do with this one so it was a bit of an epiphany moment when I finally found the answer to 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.’
This sense of perpetual forward motion that drives Blancmange is also reflected in the ongoing influence the music has on younger generations of artists and fans over the years. Contemporary electronic producers like Honey Dijon and Roman Flügel have paid tribute with remixes, Moby once called Blancmange ‘Probably the most underrated electronic act of all time.’ while John Grant continues to profess his love for Arthur’s music, old and new, and has invited Blancmange to perform as part of Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival.
The artwork for the album helped cement ‘Private View’ into a fully cohesive and realised statement. ‘My daughter did a number of paintings of the back of people, so portraits but from behind,’ he says. ‘I loved this idea so I took her painting and the photograph and faffed around with it in my minimal way. I had the title ‘Private View’ and so that word play around a person's private view just suited it perfectly for me. In a way that is the album, it kind of helped sum it up.’
‘Private View’ is a record that manages to capture an artist who is potently in the moment when it comes to creating new work, while also being able to draw on 40 years’ worth of knowledge, experience, and built-in intuition. ‘I'm really lucky to be able make the music completely on my own terms,’ Arthur says. ‘Being able to just continue being creative...that's when I'm happiest.’ As he said before: ‘Within myself there are no limits.’
Blancmange ‘Private View’
is out on vinyl, CD and digitally on 30 September 2022. Pre-orders are available Here
‘Private View’ track listing:
What’s Your Name * Some Times These * Reduced Voltage * Here We Go Go * Chairs
Who Am I * Everything Is Connected * I Tried To Be You * Private View * Take Me
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