Credit: Found On Internet

Scenes come and go but are frequently regurgitated by some abstract form of unnatural selection, usually dictated by fashion editors looking backwards to go forward, ad-execs flexing their record collections and record company A&Rs looking for a trustworthy thread to the past to conceal their burgeoning talents' lack of talent.

What might have been critically credible and earnest two decades ago, is strung up as a naff freakshow, whilst what was once vulgar and laughable is re-branded as essential. "the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia," wrote Milan Kundera in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'. But everyone gets paid, condemned careers seize a stay of execution and bodiless pundits make a packet with recycled opinions and inane quips.

A handful of artists dip beneath this sentimental radar and manage to maintain both their careers and credibility, although rarely their cash flow. On very rare occasions they manage to hold on to all three and, with the cushion of over 10 million record sales to his name, Gary Numan is one such rarity. Plus with recent name checks from the likes of Beck: "I don't care what anyone says, Gary Numan is cool", David Bowie "Gary Numan has written a couple of the finest things in British pop", and even Mighty Boosh mainman, Noel Fielding's alter-ego, Vince Noir "The thing about Gary Numan is, right, not only is he a popstar, but he's got a pilot's license. Imagine that", the Essex spawned electro pioneer is back.

Speaking to Music Towers, prior to the release of 'Jagged', Numan's first studio album in over five years, the singer recoils at the notion of joining the nostalgia bandwagon. "When the Here And Now tours first started, they contacted me to see if I wanted to take part. I said 'no' so loudly, they didn't ask again," chuckles the 48-year old. However, this aversion to reliving the past can be traced to one mortifying moment early in the 1990's when Numan's 1979 evergreen chart topper, 'Cars', was re-released following its inclusion in a car advertisement. "Someone suggested I perform the song on Top of The Pops, and, when I did, I remember saying to myself, 'What the fuck am I doing!' I've never felt so embarrassed or ashamed."