ANDY JONES
The latest incarnation of The Maths – from left: Benge, Hannah Peel, John Foxx and Robin Simon
40years ago John Foxx released the album Metamatic, a record steeped in an all-new blend of synths and drum machines which conjured up a future that was as terrifying as it was mesmerising. It predicted a world straight out of the sci-finovels of J.G. Ballard or predictions by Marshall McLuhan – cold cities, burning cars, disconnected people, all residing in a harsh, unloving future. That future is now, and according to Foxx, the reality we now live in is darker than anything he could possibly have believed four decades ago… “Well it’s worse,” he sighs, “worse than I’d imagined; it’s absolute bloody chaos. It’s panned out badly, but obviously there are good things as well which can give you hope. But the media magnifies everything and changes the perspective on things that you might never have heard about before.