After announcing the
May 10th release of the expansive, career-spanning best of collection
‘Everything Is Connected’,
Blancmange now unveil a brand new song from the set in the shape of
‘Again, I Wait For The World’. Listen
HERE.While ‘Again, I Wait For The World’ is a “new” Blancmange song, it also takes us back to before the band’s formation. Blancmange vocalist, songwriter and mainstay Neil Arthur wrote the song with his previous project L360 way back in 1979. Since then, it always remained in the deep recesses of his mind until he felt compelled to finish it earlier this year. Naturally, then, it feels like it has a footprint in both eras: possessing the urgency of a band carving their own space in alternative music, but with future-facing electronics that sit neatly alongside the contemporary alt-pop sound.
Neil says, “I’m still trying to find the other members of L360 to credit them, because without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
‘Again, I Wait For The World’ extends the inimitable, enduring vision that Neil Arthur demonstrates throughout ‘Everything Is Connected’ – as much a product of his adventurous spirit as it of his creative independence. The album shows that Blancmange’s roads less travelled are just as remarkable as their big hits, a tale that emerges in two distinct chapters: the influential and esoteric synth-pop roots which led to the Top 10 singles such as ‘Living On The Ceiling’, ‘Blind Vision’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’, followed by a remarkably prolific run since returning with the ‘Blanc Burn’ album in 2011.
Blancmange was formed after Neil met multi-instrumentalist Stephen Luscombe at the Harrow School of Art in 1979. It wasn’t long until they commanded a regular position in both the charts and on Radio 1, before they closed the first chapter of their story within the grandeur of a headline show at the Royal Albert Hall. Nonetheless, the pair stayed in contact and often joked about working together again. That moment finally came in 2011 with the acclaimed ‘Blanc Burn’, although it was only a brief reunion as Stephen left shortly afterwards due to ill-health. Neil’s creativity, however, was revitalised, resulting in seven more Blancmange albums to date, plus the instrumental series ‘Nil By Mouth’. In 2022, some 40 years after the release of their debut ‘Happy Families’, Blancmange re-signed to London Records for their most recent album, ‘Private View’, completing a circle and showing once again, that everything is indeed connected.
‘Everything Is Connected (The Best of Blancmange 1979-2024)’ is available to pre-order HERE. The 2CD and digital formats compile an extensive 38 tracks, while the ten-track coke bottle green vinyl makes conciseness a virtue.
Neil Arthur will follow the release of ‘Everything Is Connected’ with a Blancmange headline tour which includes a London show at the Islington Assembly Hall – tickets are available HERE. In inimitable Blancmange fashion, support comes from Neil himself in one of his many other collaborative projects, The Remainder, who are completed by Finlay Shakespeare and Liam Hutton. The dates are:
MAY
16th – Newcastle, Wylam Brewery
17th – Glasgow, St. Luke’s
18th – Birmingham, O2 Institute
23rd – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
24th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
25th – Manchester, Academy 2
26th – Colchester, Arts Centre
31st – Bristol, Trinity
JUNE
1st – London, Islington Assembly Hall
2nd – Brighton, Old Market
3rd – Southampton, 1865
