Recommendation - Marc Heal "The Hum"

[Andrew Robinson]

I'm really enjoying the solo CD from Marc Heal (of Cubanate) which turned
up a couple of days ago. If you like early Numan / 242 / Nitzer Ebb, but
think they all lost their way in the 90s, give it a listen (skip the first
track though, it's probably the weakest and least accessible):

https://armalyte.bandcamp.com/album/marc-heal-the-hum

This is a lot more thoughtful & less danceable than Cubanate (especially
their last 'industrial drum and bass' album – was that really 18 years
ago?) and invites comparisons with early Numan: high moog string lines and
guitars over catchy tunes about a bleak dystopian world.... Heal has
exchanged thumping 4/4 beats and mindless rage for mature disaffection with
the world, but this album doesn't come across as derivative, retro or
indulgent. It's great to find an industrial synth act delivering the
strongest lyrics, tunes and beats of his career, not the weakest (yes, I'm
looking at you, Depeche Mode). It's been a strange journey to get to this
(hated by the techno crowd for using guitars, by the rock crowd for using
synths, by both for going drum and bass, calling it quits on the penniless
band only to find a massive cheque in the post because an instrumental
ended up on Gran Turismo, producing for ZTT (yes, really), writing a novel,
moving to singapore... but it's all added up to a future classic.

- Andy_R
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