Out of all the various comebacks and revivals of 1980s acts as of recent, Blancmange are one of the most surprising – and most welcomed. The synthpop duo of Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe released three fantastic albums from 1982 to 1985, along with many catchy hit songs – ‘Living on the Ceiling’ is still in frequent rotation today.
When we spoke to Neil Arthur last year, he spoke of his dissatisfaction with the music industry, and why he retired Blancmange for two decades before returning in 2011 with a modernised take on electronic pop, adding elements of rock and abstract darkwave into a unique new sound.
But Neil hasn’t forgotten about the classics, either – when he performed with Blancmange at the Leadmill in 2022, he treated us to quite a selection of his greatest hits, along with some impressive material from his latest studio album, Private View.
A new compilation album is on the way. Everything is Connected: The Best of Blancmange 1979-2024 collects together 38 tracks from across the Blancmange library, from their well-known early hits to their later hidden gems.
The collection includes a ‘new’ track titled ‘Again, I Wait for the World’ – ‘new’ in quotation marks, as this is a reworking of an unfinished track first written in 1979, forty-five years ago, with Neil’s pre-Blancmange band, L360. This song is described as sounding in parts ‘like it came from 1979 and 2024 simultaneously, but overall like it comes from neither, with its distinctive vocals, wry wordplay and a deft blend of future-facing electronics and vintage synths’.
The collection will be available digitally and on CD, with a condensed version available on coke-bottle green vinyl. To support the new compilation, Blancmange will also be touring once again in May and June, supported by Neil Arthur’s own side-project, The Remainder, with Finlay Shakespeare and Liam Hutton.
Unfortunately, there is not a Sheffield date this year – there are, however, dates in Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham, all of which are easy to get to. The tour also includes a London show, at the Islington Assembly Hall.
If Neil still has the same energy, passion, and unparalleled amount of cool that he showed on the last tour, then this isn’t one to be missed for synthpop fans.
Everything is Connected: The Best of Blancmange 1979-2024 is available to pre-order on streaming, CD and vinyl here.
Blancmange will perform at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club on Friday the 24th of May, with other dates throughout May and early June. Tickets are available on the official Blancmange website.
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