(New Wave / Synthpop) Blancmange - Semi Detached (Deluxe Edition) [2CD] - 2015, MP3, 320 kbps

When you have the likes of Future Islands and La Roux plundering the eighties so blatantly, it seems only right that the acts that produced the original sound can join the bandwagon. While Blancmange were one of the lesser known acts of the early part of the decade, they produced some impressive material.
Four years after their return with the critically acclaimed Blanc Burn, Blancmange are back, but this time it is just Neil Arthur, with Stephen Luscombe absent. This change in dynamic hasn't drastically changed the sound, but has allowed Arthur to be a little more indulgent, both lyrically and musically. The opening eight minute The Fall, is a reference to the band he once adored. The closing Bloody Hell Fire treads the same path, but is fearsome in tone rather than nostalgic, with its questioning of existence.
The likes of Paddington, a mini tour of London as opposed to a love letter to the recently reinvented bear, and It Didn't Take Long have that distinctive plodding synthesiser sound that gave the band hits like Living On A Ceiling and Waves, just with a more world weary feel.
There is also an intriguing cover of Can's I Want More, with its cynical lyrics sounding even more pertinent thirty years later. Arthur is clearly enjoying the rebirth under the Blancmange banner and often the smiles come through, such as the quirky and sharp Acid and the hilarious Useless. They may have formed the band in 1979, but Arthur still has something to say.