After putting her all-too-brief stab at solo stardom on the backburner following an album for Island in the early 90s, ex-Propaganda member Brucken next appeared a decade later as one half of Onetwo, a duo that also featured erstwhile OMD man Paul Humphreys. Last year, though, the Bavarian-born chanteuse belatedly resurrected her solo career with new recordings as part of a finely-curated retrospective, Combined, the release of which coincided with a sold-out one-off show at London’s Scala.
The concert was captured in its entirety on film by director/producer Martin Gooch for this DVD release. It was certainly a special occasion for devotees of this cult singer, as it reunited her with former Propaganda members Ralf Dorper and Susanne Freytag for note-perfect recreations of the band’s classic numbers, Dr Mabuse, Duel, and p:Machinery.
For someone seemingly reluctant to bask in the limelight, Brucken seems totally at ease on stage, delivering an accomplished performance of material mostly drawn from her back catalogue. The concert features some noteworthy cameo appearances – Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory, Erasure’s Andy Bell and composer/ pianist Andrew Poppy – but, ultimately, they play second fiddle to the magnetic Brucken, who, with a new solo album on the horizon, finally seems to have accepted that she really can go it alone.
