{"id":31550,"date":"2017-11-27T19:19:58","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T19:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=31550"},"modified":"2017-11-28T10:15:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T10:15:17","slug":"behind-the-curtains-blancmange-offer-you-a-peek-inside-their-unfurnished-rooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2017\/11\/behind-the-curtains-blancmange-offer-you-a-peek-inside-their-unfurnished-rooms\/","title":{"rendered":"BEHIND THE CURTAINS – Blancmange Offer You A Peek Inside Their Unfurnished Rooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When I was about nine or 10 and just starting to take a serious interest in music, my elder brother, in a rare show of fraternal indulgence, took it upon himself to introduce me to the delights of indie synth-pop.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

To my great surprise and eternal gratitude he presented me with a cassette tape (ask your parents kids!). On one side was Yazoo’s\u00a0Upstairs at Eric’s<\/em> and on the other\u00a0Happy Families<\/em> by\u00a0Blancmange.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I still have that battered old cassette today, because it inspired a lifelong interest in experimental and electronic music.<\/p>\n

All of which preamble brings me to Unfurnished Rooms<\/strong><\/em>,<\/em>\u00a0the latest release by the new post-Stephen Luscombe<\/strong> Blancmange.<\/p>\n

Essentially now a solo outfit, following Luscombe’s enforced retirement due to illness, …Rooms <\/em>is the latest in a clutch of Blancmange releases on the band’s own\u00a0Blanc Check<\/strong> label.<\/p>\n

With frontman\u00a0Neil Arthur<\/strong> at the helm, the group has moved away from the spry pop hits of their heyday, while remaining true to the avant-garde spirit and quirky, dark wit of their early EPs and album tracks.<\/p>\n

In a revealing interview<\/a>\u00a0with EP last month, Arthur spoke of his desire to drill down to the essence to find true simplicity in his songwriting.<\/p>\n

He also told how he tired never to give too much away, allowing listeners to find their own meanings to the songs.<\/p>\n

To his great credit, both these, on the face of it, diverse aims are crystallised in Unfurnished Rooms.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
In the pink – Neil Arthur live at London’s 229<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ably assisted on production by\u00a0Wrangler<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Benge<\/strong>, Arthur has created a strange dreamlike album, that’s at once almost childish in its simplicity and yet devilishly difficult to decipher.<\/p>\n

From the opening title track onwards, it’s a tangled web of surreal images, half remembered truths and reminiscences “unfinished works….left behind”.<\/p>\n

On the Bowie\/T-Rex\u00a0<\/strong>homage\u00a0What’s<\/strong> The<\/strong> Time?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0the lyrics are rolled off in lists: “What’s your favourite crime?\/What’s the best indie record of all time?”.<\/p>\n

There’s a sinister juxtaposition between the uncomfortable and the inane “What’s the best dog you’ve ever had?” before “the best famine you endured?”<\/p>\n

Jabs of guitar and keys reinforce the unsettling mood.<\/p>\n

Social media appears to be an abiding theme, most notably on\u00a0Old Friends<\/strong><\/em> when an online story about a whippet turns into something else entirely and Don’t Get Me Wrong<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0– a wry look at the contrast between digital fantasy and mundane reality.<\/p>\n

The latter also features avowed Blancmange aficionado\u00a0John Grant<\/strong> on backing vocals and piano.<\/p>\n

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Arthur’s voice remains a powerful instrument<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes a news story provides the inspiration as on\u00a0We Are The Chemicals,<\/em><\/strong> while\u00a0Wiping The Chair<\/strong><\/em> seems to be about a meeting with an old partner – a\u00a0Sliding Doors<\/strong><\/em>-style look back at what might’ve been, a path not taken.<\/p>\n

Arthur’s voice remains a flexible tool, rising from a deathly whisper on some tracks to a full blooded Lancastrian roar on others.<\/p>\n

The music too, is very varied from jarring snatches of noise (Share It Out<\/strong><\/em>) to big volcanic choruses (Old Friends<\/strong><\/em>).<\/p>\n

There’s big stadium rock guitar, courtesy of David Rhodes <\/strong>(Scott Walker<\/strong>,\u00a0Peter Gabriel<\/strong> and\u00a0Kate Bush<\/strong>) on\u00a0Gratitude<\/strong><\/em> – an uncharacteristically heavy track which throws everything but the kitchen sink into the production.<\/p>\n

A rich vein of humour runs through the record, most obviously on the punning\u00a0Anna Dine <\/strong><\/em>(see below), <\/em>but\u00a0it’s a very difficult album to work out, inviting repeated listens.<\/p>\n

Freed of any major label pressure to write chart hits, Arthur seems to be ploughing his own peculiar furrow both lyrically and musically.<\/p>\n

On the strength of this album. long may he continue to do so.<\/p>\n