This act is a creative outlet for Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 renown and more and keyboard queen and singer Berenice Scott, who as well as doing studio work has not only played with Heaven 17 but also on the Holy Holy project which involves various Bowie acolytes including Gregory. Once the duo had paired up and started writing together they were able to help score TV drama Liar. Then some work followed on approach being part of the schtick here, be not surprised to learn that Gregory and Scott are also a part of the musical backdrop featured in the forthcoming big-budget TV version of Vanity Fair. In fact the title sequence will use the unit’s take on Bob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower, with more music in the body of the screenplay. I guess it’s time to press PLAY…

Starting cut Addict has a soft and somewhat vulnerable-sounding Scott vocal that puts me in mind of Vanessa Paradis in phrasing. In other words, icily sensuous. And rather beguiling in a world of shrieking pop lasses. The musical backdrop uses a steady beat, threading synths and piano ripples. The bassline is sparse, like a slow heartbeat. Then Blackout which has slivers of synth duck noises and a ponderous tempo. The song is insistently melodic. The lyric centres on manifestations of anguish..maybe it’s a drug reference. Would make a fabulous with Gary Numan though the subtle backing vocals might well be Gregory. This song then firms up the beat, sounding very motion picture soundtrack.

It’s OK is a beauty of a tune, soft piano at its commencement, then a strident beat cracks in, the semitone chordal trick used to create an unsettling cadence. The singing is tough enough without being butch. Not that many artists can sound this bewitching – Vanessa Daou can. And Suzanne Vega. I would have put a trumpet part on this, soaked in delay. It’s certainly a standout song in this programme. Next up is A Place To Be with maybe too chilly a setting. All this is definitely night-time music, gentle but shadowy. I’ve not heard anything quite like this since the overlooked group Fashion soundtracked my nightlife. Berenice has a vocal timbre that is edge-of-breathy..it worked for Judie Tzuke back in the day. Breaking Rules rides in on a Vaselined Cameo beat and stays in that groove, almost evoking the production on early Madonna songs. The temptress lyric works pretty well. The following track Darkstar is not the vintage Grateful Dead opus but a syncopated effort with spaceship docking sounds giving way to Gregory sounding halfway between Bowie and Numan. Then Scott is singing as well and it sounds glorious indeed. Maybe my favourite number here, though it makes me ache to add legato flanged guitar back in the mix!

After The Night has thunder FX and then a doomy keys intro with a beautifully recorded vocal that makes the words drip with a resigned regret. To attain an emotional feel over what is electro-pop sounds is something of a triumph. Too many artists have recorded All Along The Watchtower over the years. For me it’s Michael Hedges who best distilled the intrigue of the verses and cyclic chording. In this incarnation, Afterhere employ electric piano at a slowish tempo and it attains a spooky ambience with ease, E bowed guitar and all. I Won’t Cry is almost baroque lite, a ballad delicately arranged. Unbroken sounds hesitant in comparison to the other material, then goes a bit Eurhythmics. Final number Worship brings a lighter touch with limpid piano over what basically could be a country heartbreaker.

So…an effective and unashamedly sexually-charged collection of wonderfully sung compositions, just made for romantic nights in. Too few faster songs and not enough Gregory, but that can be addressed in liver performances, I venture. Bring on this kind of bravery and individuality!

Pete Sargeant