Gary Numan – Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) – Mortal Records
DMC World Magazine
So much is made of Gary Numan’s status as a pioneer of electronic music that people tend to forget he is still making records – and ‘Splinter’ is a very fine example of an artist who clearly still has a lot to say. It’s dark and metallic, but it packs an impressive punch from start to finish, with songs that have been a while in the making but now sound cohesive and vital. Numan’s voice is intriguing too, and there’s quite a lot of vibrato and breathy noises here – which takes a little while to get used to but which gives the record an extra edge, as if it needed one. ‘Love Hurt Bleed’ is the strong centrepiece of the album, but make sure you listen to the end, because ‘My Last Day’ is a really powerful closing track. Throughout Numan brings together strands of his electronic past but filters them into the crunchy, distortion-laden sound of his present and future. In doing so he keeps that one step ahead of the chasing pack, an important artist whose latest word is every bit as important as his first.
