BLANCMANGE

Wanderlust blAnc cHecK 8/10 Deliciously droll synthpop masterclass

With Stephen Luscombe retiring in 2011, Blancmange is ostensibly a solo vehicle for Neil Arthur, who’s spent the last four albums of his vintage act’s Indian summer staring into the void of middle age with increasingly perverse results. On the excellent Wanderlust he again works with synth connoisseur (and John Grant producer) Benge to help frame his mordant lyrics and avuncular pop with rich analogue modulations, casting “Talking To Machines” as a curdled waltz and “I Smashed Your Phone” as a dystopian ballad. More pertinent are “Leaves”, a Brexit lament, and the languid groove of “TV Debate”, with its blank verse of “Pink flamingo/Rees Mogg/Disco curfew…”. Reliably peculiar. pIErS MarTIn