Left dissatisfied by his debut solo debut album Realisationship, Andrew Hung felt the need to brush up on his craft and break through some mental barriers. Danny Turner discusses the follow-up, Devastations

Andrew Hung, best known for being one half of electronic music duo Fuck Buttons, is very much in demand. Despite the project being on hold since 2013, he’s subsequently recorded a track with Jean-Michel Jarre, co-produced for Beth Orton and Aimee Osbourne (daughter of Ozzie), and wrote the soundtrack to cult director Jim Hosking’s comedy horror, The Greasy Strangler.

Hung’s second solo electronic album, Devastations, documents a transitional period in his career. Striving to perfect the one-man-band approach to its predecessor Realisationship –a body of work he’s only recently come to appreciate, despite being recorded almost entirely digitally, its propulsive beats, angular instrumentation and stark, yearning vocals are a disarming throwback to ’80s new wave songcraft.

Was Devastations recorded pre-pandemic or did the isolation give you the perfect opportunity to work on a second solo album?

“I’m not sure how to compartmentalise the process now but it was definitely finished during the pandemic. Most of it was written before, but when it came to mixing it took or four or five attempts to cross the line due to whatever mental barrier I was experiencing. I guess going through all those mixing processes gave it a degree of re-polishing – it certainly gave me the opportunity to inspect my working processes because I’m always looking for ways to be as efficient as possible.”

How do you feel Devastations builds on the your debut solo album Realisationship?

“I heard Realisationship again recently, but it’s only now I actually think it’s a good album. It was my first solo record and my initial expectation was ‘I can do this’ – and I did, but at the time I felt like I’d let myself down and it could have been better, so I went a bit militant and focused on improving pretty much everything. Nothing really changed in terms of the artistry, but I focused a lot more on the craft of making an album. With Devastations I feel I’ve brought out more of what I wanted but couldn’t.”