‘Intruder’ by Gary Numan — Single Review
Since May 31st 2019, we’ve known this was coming. If you’re a die hard Gary Numan fan, you’ve been counting the days. If you saw him live on his most recent (R)Evolution tour, you’d have heard the song. But now it’s time for the rest of the world to hear it, and the world is fighting back.
After the announcement came almost two years ago that Gary Numan was working on a new album, I have been following him every step of the way on his Making Music campaign. There he’s shared almost every ounce of progress and hindrance to the fans that paid for updates, and over the duration of the campaign we have seen the songs and album come together. We’ve heard early demos and got previews of his new look before the rest of the world, and it felt amazing knowing these secrets. But the time finally came on January 8th, which is when Numan unveiled big news on social media: his new studio album is coming, with the first single debuting three days later. Before I get into the nitty gritty of discussing the album concept and the single itself, check it below yourself so we’re all on the same page!
“I can be the intruder if you want me to”
That’s one sentence that stuck with me since the demo for this song, which was originally called ‘Aeon’, was shared on his album campaign. The initial recording of the song we heard was a short snippet of the first verse, with one idea for the chorus following a few days later; the chorus took some time to write though, as Numan told his fans how he was struggling to find a chorus. Eventually he settled on one and felt confident enough about the song to bring it out on tour, giving fans a snippet of what’s to come during the encore of his 40th anniversary tour. The night I saw him at Cambridge Corn Exchange, ‘Intruder’ was played between the cold and distant ‘Remind Me To Smile’ from his 1980 #1 album ‘Telekon’ and ‘Jo The Waiter’ from his 1978 debut “punk” album ‘Tubeway Army’; this three song encore really juxtaposed his 40 year career, taking us from the heights of his early career before skyrocketing us into the future, and concluding with an acoustic fan favorite from his first ever album.
But I digress. The song itself sounds incredibly different from that initial demo the campaigners heard, but you can hear it was built upon the same foundations of keyboards and drums with more layers added to make it more sonically dense. Between the first two verses is a small break which feels slightly longer in comparison to the demo, but seeing the music video debut, it just added to the anticipation of what’s coming next. We then launch into a chorus which is strikingly different to the demo, while simultaneously drawing on Numan’s atheism, something he’s been vocal about since his musical rebirth in 1994 with his ‘Sacrifice’ album. The initial demo heard Numan singing “I’ve been calling out for you”, while now sings “you can whisper your Lord’s prayer and pretend that it matters”. Instead of bashing religion though, he’s instead twisted it to play in perfectly with the concept of the album. He also tells us that “you can hide in the shadows and pretend I won’t find you”, which comes across as a dark threat, saying that there’s no way to hide from this powerful, massive entity.
The music video itself sees Numan in a futuristic, layered getup while kneeling on a black platform which is rotating, not unlike the world and how it spins. Above him and between shots of him hangs a massive branch, giving an aspect of nature to the setting inside a black box which lights up white, red and blue. Toward the end of the video we see Numan assuming a fetal position almost, as rain pours down on him and the branch. Also present is Numan hands becoming covered in a red liquid, presumably blood and also evoking the image on Christ’s bleeding hands — though I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. By the time the third verse enters, we see Numan smearing the blood like substance on his face, creating the three lines we see on the album cover. Various fan groups I’m a part of have speculated and asked about these lines, and finally the question has been answered. It made my jaw drop when I saw it, almost like he was creating tribal inspired makeup from the blood of man.
The ‘Intruder’ Album Concept
In one of the more recent campaign updates, Numan posted a video giving us a preview of the album artwork. On the right hand side of the album’s inner gatefold is a typed out poem written by one of his daughters — Echo I believe? But he told us how it was this poem that kickstarted the idea for the album’s concept. Whereas his previous 2017 album ‘Savage’ is set within a deserted, ruined and post apocalyptic world, 2021’s ‘Intruder’ explored how the world is feeling and takes the stance of the Earth fighting back, all inspired by this one poem. Numan has also discussed that one song was adapted from a music idea that one of his other daughters, Persia, came up with. Previously she has been seen on tour beside her dad singing ‘My Breathing’ and ‘My Name Is Ruin’ with him after singing on the latter song, as well as starring in the music video for the single; these two features make the album already have undertones of a family effort.
The lyrics of ‘Intruder’, which itself is the title track of the album, shows this theme really pushing through. In the video we see Numan present with a confident swagger, which comes across almost as the Earth is rubbing the fact that it’s dying because of humanity. But a glance at lines like “I could listen to more lies and promises you kept”, you can see Numan speaking as the world saying how humanity promised to be kind and look after it, but it’s all a lie because we are arguably past the point of no return in terms of pollution and destruction; “don’t you wish that you listened more?” is another stand out line, teasing humanity about the several warning signs and activists we continue to ignore, ultimately sealing our coming demise and destruction. The song then finally concludes with “I won’t pretend that I’ll miss you”, an understandable statement as the planet would finally be rid of the parasite that is humanity.
The album itself is due to release on May 21st 2021, almost two years to the day since Numan announced he was beginning recording it at his home studio. As you can see above, there’s a variety of different formats you’ll be able to get the album on from cassette to CD and vinyl. Several vinyl variations have been announced with exclusive pressings available at indie record stores (red vinyl), Amazon (silver) and his own web store (gold). This has caused some disapproval between the Numan community, with many wondering why there’s so many different pressings and if it’s just a money making scheme — personally I don’t see a problem with it. The deluxe edition of the CD will also feature a bonus song called ‘When You Fall’ while the vinyl pressings feature an exclusive alternate take of the song ‘The End Of Dragons’. From the campaign previews and the moment I heard it, the song ‘Saints And Liars’ is automatically my initial favorite and I cannot wait for the album to finally be released. Be sure to look out for the next single from the album, coming around late March this year, and don’t forget to pre-order the album if you’re as big a Numan fan as I am!
