Private View

Product Information

Nobody goes through a very close relationship with a partner without making some mistakes, and it’s a case of… how many times will that person put up with it? THE SMILE WALL OF EYES XL RECORDINGS 2022 was a breakthrough year for The Smile, the latest project from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, where the trio released its impressive debut studio [. It’s reminiscent of past glories in parts, evident with a vintage electronic sheen manifested in Here We Go Go, which has been on the back burner since the 80s according to Neil and is satisfyingly now getting an outing here. There’s noisy drilling going on outside the Southbank Centre, so we move inside… but it doesn’t disrupt the flow.

A lot of people are frightened of the future and are quite happy to have a repeat of something that was done before,” he says. Originally a duo comprising of Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe, the pair released a further two albums ‘Mange Tout’ and ‘Believe You Me’ before going on a lengthy hiatus. Beautiful piano, keyboards and guitar combine to make one of the best melodies Arthur has ever written.Opening with a delicate piano motif before intertwining layers build to a motorik beat with Neil’s understated vocal, its quintessentially Blancmange and a fitting closer to an album that looks to the future while remaining respectful of the past. This neat, full circle is also reflected in the album itself, being the perfect crystallisation of four decades of Arthur’s creativity. Lean and tanned, with cropped hair and beard, he still plays proper, competitive football in an Over-50s FA League. Mindset… then Expanded Mindset… then Nil By Mouth III… then Commercial Break… then Nil By Mouth IV and V, then the Fader album, Quartz… and now Private View. Forty years after adding understated guitar lines to Blancmange’s 1982 debut album Happy Families, Rhodes has brought equally tasteful textures to Private View.

Private View will be released on London Records almost exactly 40 years to the day since the label released Blancmange’s debut album Happy Families. But then I move on in the song, and I say ‘You should grab hold of everything…’ You know, do you need to carry your shitty baggage around with you? This neat full circle of Blancmange re-signing to the same label that ignited things all those years ago is also reflected in the album itself, being the perfect crystallisation of four decades of creativity.Happy showers come and go / Migrating birds have my view / Have a pleasant trip…’ I’m sorry about this, it’s very embarrassing.