“To be honest, I was quite surprised that this album actually ended up being released. … I thought that we would just carry on doing demos forever,” Depeche Mode/Yazoo/Erasure legend Vince Clarke chucklingly confessed when I recently interviewed him for FLOOD, alongside Blancmange’s Neil Arthur and producer Benge, about their new post-punk supergroup, Doublespeak.
The Doublespeak project actually isn’t that new; it dates back to 2017, when Arthur began sending his longtime mate Clarke cover-song suggestions (many of which Clarke had not heard before, which excited him) without “any kind of clear vision” of what it would become. But as the two synthpop pioneers harnessed their skills with Benge’s, utilizing both analog equipment and modern technology, they resynthesized these songs — by everyone from Fad Gadget to the Carpenters to a certain “fucking amazing” Swedish pop group that Clarke and Arthur bonded over poolside while on holiday in 1982 — in ways that somehow sound vintage, futuristic, and timeless, all at once.
Sadly, one attempt, Van McCoy’s “The Hustle,” didn’t make it onto Doublespeak’s final tracklist, which Clarke amusingly told me he’s still “angry” about. (You and me both, Vince!) But it was still a great honor and great fun to delve into Arthur, Clarke, and Benge’s track-by-track guide to the approved covers, from post-punk deep cuts to easy-listening classics, that comprise their fascinating debut album.
