Last month, I was poking around on the Gary Numan website to dig into the upcoming “Berserker” DLX RM and I was viewing the merch and came across the funniest thing I’d seen in ages. It immediately went out on the offline thread that we share with friends. Let it not be said that Gary Numan, for all of his focus on making commercial products for his fans, does not have a sense of humor about it.

GARY NUMAN IS HERE IN MY CAR

As evidenced by the Gary Numan hanging car air freshener available in his online webstore! The packaging proclaims “Gary Numan Is here In My Ca'” in a perfect mashup of the Numan 1979 aesthetic. The hanger itself sported the Machman look Gary from the cover of April 1979 “Replicas” while the lettering an tag line were from the September 1979 “Pleasure Principle.” Yow! It’s somewhat jolting to recall that Numan released two of his most successful albums in the space of six months apart.

The product copy was as cheeky as it could possibly be and I saw that the aroma on the freshener was the infamous “new car smell,” which replicates the plastic aromas and VOCs that new cars are spewing out for some months before the inevitable UV breakdown of the compounds occur. A smell my father was almost obsessed with. When I worked at a car dealer early in my career I saw the aerosol cans of “odor attractant” that they sprayed in used vehicles to help seal the deal! Still, it’s comforting to know that Numan has our backs when our Ford Fiesta begins to reek of burritos overspill from the Taco Bell drive through! All for an affordable $7.99.

POPULISM OR POSH APPEAL?

But Gary Numan wasn’t the only New Waver working the aroma action. Just a few days later, I became aware that Duran Duran, who commercially broke the year following Numan’s 1979 ascendance, were also venturing into the branded aromatics. But the difference couldn’t be more stark! Where the buy-in required by Numan fans was about the price of a hamburger, Duran Duran were aiming for the posh top echelons of the scent market.

Duran Duran have teamed with Xerjoff, an Italian fragrance company beyond my plebeian knowledge of such things! They bring not one, but two new scents to the market.

XERJOFF • NEO RIO

The first fragrance, “Neo Rio” is the extroverted, insouciant side of the scent spectrum. It’s the first Xerjoff fragrance that comes in four different styled flacons: yellow, pink, orange, and green. As seen in the promo photo above. Durannies will need all four, of course! It’s profile includes candied fig and rum, saffron, rose oil, and the “creamy richness of tonka bean.” Whatever that is!

Can you play “Spot The Nick Rhodes” in the launch photo above? His protective coloration is profound. I’ve got to say that the pallette of the package was pure Nick Rhodes, and I don’t doubt for a second that he consulted with the perfumer on some of the design decisions that the products reflect, being the arch aesthete that he is! After all, his hair has probably been all four of those colors at one point or another!

XERJOFF • BLACK MOONLIGHT

The second fragrance, “Black Moonlight,” takes its name from the song on the band’s recent opus, “Dance Macabre.” It’s keyed in to the introspective, noir side of the band as reflected in their penchant for sophistication and intrigue. It’s notes are bergamot, mandarin, lavender, jasmine and hazelnut. That sounds like it would be an incredible herbal tea! [memo to self…] And yes, the band have very much put their stamps on the resulting fragrances as this quote from the perfumer’s founder explains below.

While one might take issue with Duran Duran poking around in esoteric areas where they might be better off writing songs, the band’s last two albums have been so compelling that I think they have earned the right to take a breather and do something fun that will keep Nick happy, besides. This also serves to remind me that I need to update the Duran Duran Rock G.P.A. now that my Record Cell has been enhanced with both “Future Past” and “Danse Macabre [Deluxe].”

The only place where this all falls down for me [your mileage may vary] in on the price. Are you sitting down? Preferably on a couch stuffed with $20.00 bills, because the flacons of each of these Xerjoff x Duran Duran scents will cost you an eye-watering €315/50 ml. That’s £267/$358 in today’s market. I suppose that’s the cost of wanting more out of life than the aroma of PVC off gasses! But fans of either artist, and I like them both [with caveats], are free to vote with their wallets. DJ hit that button!

GARY NUMAN

DURAN DURAN

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