ANDREW HUNG
Deliverance (Lex)
In a 2016 interview, before Fuck Buttons’ hiatus had been confirmed as a permanent split, Andrew Hung said, “I guess looking at my [solo] work and comparing it to Ben’s, it shows that he’s probably ‘fuck’ and I’m ‘buttons’.”
Seven years on, that very much still rings true. While, under the Blanck Mass banner, Benjamin John Power’s music has got steadily darker and more aggressive, his former creative partner is largely operating on a less subterranean, more pop plane.
Andrew Hung’s Deliverance opens with lead single Ocean Mouth, which carries very welcome euphoric echoes of Tarot Sport, Fuck Buttons’ finest hour, and bows out with a banger in the shape of the dancefloor-primed Love Is. The likes of Find Out give 80s synthpop a contemporary reboot, and postpunk influences add edge to bright electronica.
Most polarising, I suspect, will be Hung’s heart-on-sleeve vocals in Deliverance, which are surprisingly unprocessed, front and centre. Still, his passing resemblance to The Cure’s Robert Smith (as well as Gareth Campesinos!) will be a selling point for many.
words BEN WOOLHEAD