Visage are one of the few iconic 80's pop projects that still endure - at least some of those tracks - Fade To Grey and Night Train are definitive of the New Romantic electronica of the time. Visually too, Visage had a lot of influence, Steve Strange's legendary Blitz club in the heart of London was the epicentre of it all for a time.

Midge Ure was one of the production team behind the original project alongside Billie Currie and members of Magazine,  having written and produced Fade to Grey, it was another string to his bow outside of Ultravox.

With that in mind, its not always a reason for celebration when a project so much of its time is exhumed. Hearts and Knives is a new collection of songs for 2013 and actually has a great deal of the essence of what made a record of that era sound the way it did.

Starting out life with input from Martin Rushent before he passed away (the album is dedicated to him), its evolved into the finished work three years on, with production taken care of by Steve Bryland and Save Havlicek.

Its not a coincidence, they returned to much of the technology and instrumentation of the time: -

• Moog Polymoog
• Korg 770
• Korg MS-20
• Korg Polysix
• Moog Source
• Roland Jupiter-8
• Roland SH-09
• Roland SH-7
• Roland CR-78
• Roland Juno-106
• Roland CR-78
• Roland System 100M
• Siel Cruise
• Yamaha CS-20M
• Yamaha DX-7

 

And as they said: no softsynths.

Check out the preview, the new tracks while not having the obvious classic single is a cohesive body of work, with an authentic sound plus a touch of modern input.

The album is out now with the usual deluxe packages as well as a digital download.

More Information

• Buy the album here

More From: VISAGE