MRG Presale: April 30 @ 10:00AM PT
May\, 1979. It&rsquo\;s an
ordinary Thursday evening\, which means it&rsquo\;s time for Top of the P
ops. Amidst a zeitgeist of punk and disco\, the show suddenly appears to b
e interrupted by a transmission from the future. A luminous synth riff ech
oes out\, a beat drives on and up steps an otherworldly figure - part robo
t\, part alien - to deliver an enigmatic lyric depicting some kind of andr
oid existence in a dystopian future. It&rsquo\;s Gary Numan fronting Tubew
ay Army for their breakthrough hit &lsquo\;Are &lsquo\;Friends&rsquo\; Ele
ctric?&rsquo\;.
Of the millions that are watching\, few would&rsquo
\;ve recognised that this moment foreshadows the shape of music to come\,
from synth-pop to industrial and alt-pop. That\, however\, can&rsquo\;t st
op it igniting the imagination of an audience that would swell into a devo
ted following.
Fast-forward to January\, 2021. Numan&rsquo\;s first
single &lsquo\;Intruder&rsquo\; (from the Intruder album) pulsates ominou
sly as if it&rsquo\;s soundtracking an imminent threat. As austere synths
loom like shadows and industrial beats are detonated\, the beguiling hook
towers like a beacon in the darkness. It&rsquo\;s visionary and venomous\,
with a narrative that imagines the Earth growing angry at mankind's actio
ns\, and more than willing to fight back. In the accompanying video\, Numa
n looks even more out of time than he did back in 1979\, like an intergala
ctic refugee fighting for his own existence.
Those two songs show h
ow Numan has consistently fought against the grain to stick resolutely to
his creative vision. In a career that spans over forty years\, the music e
volves and the themes change. But fans remain fascinated by Numan for the
very fact that he&rsquo\;s so uncompromising.
Any story charting fo
ur decades will be a mixed blessing of momentous highs and meagre lows. Th
e achievements are remarkable for someone who never made any concessions t
o mainstream success. Seven Top 10 singles\, including &lsquo\;Are &lsquo\
;Friends&rsquo\; Electric?&rsquo\; and the debut solo hit &lsquo\;Cars&rsq
uo\;\; eight Top 10 albums\, three of which topped the charts\; and huge c
ritical acclaim\, most notably with the Inspiration Award at the prestigio
us Ivor Novellos.
Naturally\, there were times when Numan was very
much not in vogue. Sure\, there would be ripples of rediscovery but there
were years when his increasingly conceptual albums were primarily embraced
by hardcore fans. He wasn&rsquo\;t troubling the charts\, but audiences w
ere still flocking to see him perform - almost every UK tour would include
a sold-out show at the 5000 capacity Hammersmith Apollo.
Gradually
\, though\, praise from Nine Inch Nails\, Prince and David Bowie led to a
reappraisal of his work. And that has been magnified in recent years with
Kanye West\, Lady Gaga and Dave Grohl citing him as an influence.
A
nd so\, a new narrative emerged. An unlikely icon returned to the top whil
e making music that was darker\, fiercer and more inventive than ever.&nbs
p\;
&lsquo\;Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)&rsquo\; set the bal
l rolling by peaking at #20 in 2013\, its precise\, post-industrial sound
delving into Numan&rsquo\;s experiences with depression. He started a new
deal with BMG in 2017 and released &lsquo\;Savage (Songs From A Broken Wor
ld)&rsquo\;\, an album which depicted earth as a barren wasteland in which
humanity and culture had been largely crushed by the effects of global wa
rming. &lsquo\;Savage&rsquo\; hit #2 in the UK charts.
His next alb
um\, &lsquo\;Intruder&rsquo\;\, presented a fresh but complementary narrat
ive. It&rsquo\;s a philosophical examination of a potential future apocaly
pse: the planet can only survive by purging its inhabitants. &lsquo\;Intru
der&rsquo\; also hit #2 in the UK charts.
Numan explained: &ldquo\;
&lsquo\;Intruder&rsquo\; looks at climate change from the planet&rsquo\;s
point of view. If the Earth could speak\, and feel things the way we do\,
what would it say? How would it feel? The songs\, for the most part\, atte
mpt to be that voice\, or at least try to express what I believe the earth
must feel at the moment&rdquo\;.
The planet sees us as its childre
n now grown into callous selfishness\, with a total disregard for its well
being. It feels betrayed\, hurt and ravaged. Disillusioned and heartbroke
n it is now fighting back. Essentially\, it considers human kind to be a m
istake\, a virus attacking the planet. Climate change is the undeniable si
gn of the Earth saying enough is enough\, and finally doing what it needs
to do to get rid of us\, and explaining why it feels it has to do it.&rdqu
o\;
Partially written and recorded during lockdown\, it&rsquo\;s no
surprise that current circumstances have been assimilated into its themes
. It&rsquo\;s especially evident in &lsquo\;The Gift&rsquo\;\, which evolv
es from a sparse introduction into a resonant Middle-Eastern sonic motif.
It imagines Covid-19 as the first weapon that the planet deploys in order
to eradicate mankind and once again flourish.
While anger and venge
ance rage in its opening chapters\, &lsquo\;Intruder&rsquo\; charts a wide
r spectrum of emotions. &lsquo\;Is This World Not Enough&rsquo\; and &lsqu
o\;A Black Sun&rsquo\; exude regret and then despair that this fate could&
rsquo\;ve been avoided. The finale presents a black-hearted double-bill to
bring the curtain down on the tale. First &lsquo\;Now And Forever&rsquo\;
offers a hope of eternity in the end days during its theatrical intensity
\, before the sparse\, sorrowful &lsquo\;The End Of Dragons&rsquo\; ends o
n the chilling reminder that what&rsquo\;s broken can&rsquo\;t always be f
ixed.
Collectively the album proves that Numan&rsquo\;s creative sp
ark shows no sign of being extinguished.
Numan toured the Intruder
album at over 130 shows around the world\, finally ending in mid 2024 when
he toured the US with Ministry. Since then he&rsquo\;s been back in the s
tudio writing and recording his next (and 23rd) album\, due out in early 2
026. This one looks at a near future world where humanity lives or dies ba
sed on the whims of an AI controlled system. He did take a few weeks out o
f the studio to play a major UK tour in the Fall to celebrate the 45th Ann
iversary of his &lsquo\;Replicas&rsquo\; and &lsquo\;The Pleasure Principl
e&rsquo\; albums\, both UK Number 1&rsquo\;s when first released.
T
hat&rsquo\;s just a snapshot of the tale behind one of music&rsquo\;s most
singular talents. The full story can be found in Numan&rsquo\;s criticall
y acclaimed autobiography &lsquo\;(R)evolution&rsquo\;\, which The Observe
r described as an\, &ldquo\;exhaustive\, entertaining and often poignant l
ife story.&rdquo\; What comes next will surely be just as intriguing.
\;
This show may use strobe lighting and other intense lighting
effects that could trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilep
sy or light sensitivity.
Have an MRG Credit/Gift Card?
Redeem for tickets HERE<
/a> \;