Bearing in mind he's spent the majority of the past two decades seemingly intent on deconstructing his image as popster 'Tin Tin' (responsible, lest we forget for such sugary pop fare as "Kiss Me"), you'd think the last thing Stephen Duffy would want to dive into would be a collaboration with former Duran Duran hombre Nick Rhodes, but as THE DEVILS that's exactly what he's done.
There again, Duffy's always had a chameleonic element about him and - while the resulting "Dark Circles" album (initially a fan club only release, but now rightly widely available) - isn't quite the perfect synthesis of the duo's pre-Duran influences (Bowie, Roxy, Kraftwerk. Iggy, Chic), it is a decent, largely intriguing pop album with enough of a 21st Century slant to be relevant.
Indeed, the more you're exposed to its' glacial charms, the more you're glad this duo did decide to bury the hatchet, as there are a number of persuasive reasons to recommend "Dark Circles." For starters, it's obvious that neither of the duo has lost his respective touch with a tune or cool chorus as tracks like "Come Alive" and "World Exclusive" make plain. Both have a touch of early Duran about them and the first especially is bouncy, catchy and difficult to dislike, with more than a touch of Iggy in Duffy's numbed-out vocals.
These aren't alone in excellence, either. "Big Store," for instance, is canny electro-pop, with distinct nods to both Iggy's "The Idiot" and early Roxy Music, with very Earl Slick-style guitars. Importantly, it's got that indefinable whiff of decadence about it (lyrical example: "we drink small sour drinks and smoke long cigarettes"), as does "Signals In Smoke", where Duffy gives it his best "Heroes" croon and Rhodes' keyboards swirl ominously. It's vivid stuff, but still not as good as "Newhaven-Dieppe", which is arguably the album's best pop moment, setting a tale of lost love on the cross-channel ferry to a gentle, chiming backdrop reminiscent of (strangely) early Lightning Seeds. "Do you know why you're lonely tonight?," croons Duffy mournfully, choking back the tears. Very good indeed.
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Admittedly, it does stumble a little in places. Both the instrumentals bookending the album try precociously hard to be Bowie-esque and don't quite get there, while "Dark Circles" itself - while boasting a decent chorus - is a little too retro for its' own good. Then there's things like the weirdo "Hawks Do Not Share", which is blank, terminally disconnected and just bloody mad, basically.
Nonetheless, Duffy and Rhodes remain sublime pop craftsmen for the most part and, in "Barbarellas" (a homage to the Birmingham club that launched Duran's career and also hosted a Matlock-era Pistols gig) they even turn potentially embarrassing nostalgia into something delicious, aching and resonant. Convincingly Kraftwerkian in execution, it may celebrate the past but jettisons the rose-tinted specs as Duffy sings: "car parks now instead of Barbarellas." So much for history.
Which is, in itself, why "Dark Circles" largely succeeds. Sure, it's got a retro-electro bent, but it's an effective, contemporary artistic reconciliation between two men who (your reviewer at least) never expected to get in the ring together ever again. Whether it will become anything other than an occasional project remains to be seen - and may depend on the current resurgence of interest in all things Duran - but further instalments from these two canny old Devils would be welcome if they can maintain the standard.
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