“WE WERE DOING A LOT OF DRUGS AND A LOT OF DEEP READING”

In the 32 years since leaving The Stranglers, the group he founded in 1974, Hugh Cornwell has built an eclectic solo career, full of the melody and pin-sharp observations he displayed in his years as co-frontman of The Meninblack. Cornwell’s 10th solo studio album, Moments Of Madness, offers a raw, guitar-led sound, written and conceived during the pandemic, showcasing Cornwell’s perfect balance of optimism, vitriol, despair and passion. On the eve of its release, and forthcoming tour, Daryl Easlea finds him in sparkling form, invigorated by life, music, and film.

- Daryl Easlea

North-London born Hugh Cornwell always seemed to bring a degree of intelligence to the punk milieu. Amid all the spitting, Cornwell and The Stranglers smuggled in copious amounts of art rock and archness. This was typified by the strange shift made by the group between 1979-81, when they moved from baleful new wave elders with a penchant for misogyny to explorers of arcane ideas from conspiracy theories to shady governmental intervention and aliens. As a result, the group fell from commercial grace faster than an extra-terrestrial landing into Area 51. By early 1982, however, the band had been revived as a serious chart force with the sinister waltz of Top 3 Golden Brown, which found them in the hit parade alongside Bucks Fizz, Shakin’ Stevens and Haircut 100. There followed eight years of smooth chart successes with the likes of Skin Deep, Always The Sun and European Female.

After a triumphant show at Alexandra Palace in August 1990, Cornwell left the group. Although the parting was ostensibly amicable, he was saddened by the attitude of his former bandmates toward him in interviews. However, speaking with Cornwell, he does not come across in any way as a Roger Waters figure, smarting on the sidelines at his old band’s continuation.