In typically understated fashion, the Blue Nile seem to have split without telling anyone. Those with a cursory knowledge of the critically lauded Glaswegian group would put their passing down to poor sales and expect few folk to notice. Their hardy fans, however - and Scotland and the States are littered with them - know commerce has nothing to do with it. In over two decades, the Blue Nile have rarely troubled the charts, yet continued to produce albums so meticulously crafted they take an average six years to complete. Their most recent, 2004’s High, was as gorgeous as their groundbreaking debut, 1983’s A Walk Across the Rooftops.
Why then was Paul Buchanan - Blue Nile front man, ex of actress Rosanna Arquette and possessor of one of the most distinctive, distracting voices in pop - appearing solo? Actually, he wasn’t. It may have been billed as his tour, but Blue Nile bassist Robert Bell was perched on a stool behind him, alongside a guitarist, drummer and pair of keyboard players. The only member of the band’s permanent personnel missing was PJ Moore. Musical differences? Doubtful. The Blue Nile’s dreamy, melancholic music has barely changed since Margaret Thatcher was still settling in to office.
A lengthy set included tracks from all four Blue Nile albums, a trio of new numbers and some top-notch banter from Buchanan. For a publicity-shy singer whose intricate dissections of relationship breakdowns and the mundane matters of everyday life are delivered with elegant aloofness, he was surprisingly frank and funny. “I once said I’d like to step out on stage and play a lot of hits,” he confessed. “I was told to join a covers band.”
Both Buchanan and his ardent fans ridiculed the time it takes him to write. Relative newie Runaround Girl was delivered only after the singer had scoured several pages of notes. The audience screamed with delight. “Still needs work,” noted Buchanan. His best new song, yearning ballad Meanwhile, was stopped with an angry shout after a minor mistake. This is a man, you’d wager, who washes his hands ten times in a row.
His obsessive behaviour had its pay off in transfixing renditions of classics Heatwave, Tinseltown in the Rain and Headlights on the Parade, reminding the crowd why everyone from Annie Lennox and Rod Stewart to Tom Jones and Isaac Hayes have covered his songs in the past. A few more uptempo tracks were required, however, and one fan said so. “Ok, I’ll get to work on that,” replied Buchanan. Don’t believe him for a moment.
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Usher Hall, Edinburgh (Nov 25-26), Perth Concert Hall (Nov 27)