FROM the throng of middle-aged fans in attendance for this latest incarnation of synth-pop veterans Blancmange, you’d be forgiven for assuming this to be an exercise in empty nostalgia.

Instead, this Saturday-night party evoked the best traditions of the band’s original era alongside sometimes spine-tingling highlights from more recent releases.

Sole original member Neil Arthur demonstrated his easy charisma from the off with nods to the tongue-in-cheek wit that made debut album Happy Families so great all those years ago.

The obvious big-hitters did what they said on the label; Waves retained the delicate beauty that makes it one of the great overlooked should-be 1980s anthems while I Can’t Explain was all Talking Heads funk verve. Of course, their actual anthem, Living On The Ceiling, sounded as huge as ever.

What was surprising, though, was the sheer quality of newer, vastly different material. Tracks from latest release Commuter 23 sometimes stumbled anonymously, though when they hit their stride, a Kraftwerkian artiness filled the room. Bloody Hellfire stunned the senses with its industrial wall of sound.

Marrying old pop-Blancmange with a modern arthouse equivalent, this was a satisfying journey through the past 30-odd years of a distinctive cult hero’s career.

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