The rise, fall and subsequent rise of Gary Numan is an arc almost Shakespearian in its scope. A London punk, Numan’s early adoption of synthesizers catapulted him to international mega-stardom in the 1980s - but subsequent career decisions, coupled with a critical backlash, led to a rapid and complete decline. Yet Numan soldiered on, his efforts culminating in a run of uncompromising yet increasingly lauded releases that have seen him unexpectedly back in the charts.

Sitting in his Los Angeles home, there's no-one more surprised than Numan that the harsh apocalyptic sci-fi opus Savage (Songs From A Broken World) is his highest-placed long-player since 1981's Dance, hitting number two on release in September 2017 (nestled between Ed Sheeran and Foo Fighters).

"I’m proud of myself,” he says of his 22nd studio collection. “It’s heavier than normal (chart albums) and it looks at topics that are not usual for chart records. So I’m aware that the avenues to sell it to people are limited - the majority of radio aren’t going to play it; the majority of TV aren’t going to play it; it’s difficult to get the videos seen; it’s difficult to get out to people, to tell them it’s there. I know that. I’ve been doing this for long enough now that I know that it’s a difficult sell. You just hope that you can earn a living; just don’t expect it to be a hit. 

"When I first started out, I had three number one albums in a row,"  - Replicas (released as Tubeway Army) and The Pleasure Principle, both from 1979, and the following year's Telekon, "but I’d say I’m proud of this more! 

"I’d say that it’s far more difficult to come back from the dead than starting out - by a factor of 10. My early success came so quickly, it was so special, so life-changing, but I didn’t appreciate it at the time. But this time I do, because I know that it’s so rare. 

"From 1990 to 1992, my career was dead and buried. I made Sacrifice at home, on a home studio, without a record label. I thought I’d be going back to doing music as a hobby. It was desperately grim. I hardly had any money, I was in debt. (It’s been) so many, many years to get to number two, I’m so appreciative of it. It’s been the most amazing year - with the album, the [last] tour, which sold out. It’s been going from good, to great, to even better!"

Gary cites the recently repackaged Dance as the point where his career began to slide. Released in 1981 and including the top-10 single She's Got Claws, the album peaked at number three but failed to sell like its predecessors. Featuring Mick Karn and Rob Dean from Japan, and Queen drummer Roger Taylor, the atmospheric, textured, fluid and daring collection is a far cry from the euphoria of his massive Wembley Arena Farewell Concerts the same year.

"I really liked Dance. When it came out (my record label) Beggars Banquet were not especially happy with it. After Telekon, Dance went sideways. If you’re thinking about a commercial record, that’s not the right way to go. But artistically, it was the right thing for me to do. I wanted the bass guitar to be a melody instrument. 

“My life had changed, and when your life changes, your work has to reflect that. I made the record differently; it’s a bit off-the-wall, a bit more experimental. I didn’t want to become stagnant, I didn’t want to be safe, to be famous for doing the same thing again and again. 

"Beggars tried to express that it wasn’t the commercial record I needed to keep moving upwards. But I was young. It did okay, it went Silver, but still, it was the beginning of the decline. It dipped and every one after that dipped a bit more. But I loved it, I was proud of it. It was very much what I wanted to do."

After Dance, Numan went funky, dressed like Mad Max, teamed up with University of Birmingham graduate and Shakatak co-founder Bill Sharpe, got his flying licence, and was widely ridiculed in the British media. For everything.

His rehabilitation, if you will, began in the early noughties. He was namechecked by a younger generation of artists (Beck, NIN, Marilyn Manson, Chicane) and sampled (The Sugarbabes, Basement Jaxx). By the time of 2013's uncompromising Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind), Numan's decision not to succumb to the lure of the lucrative nostalgia/retro market and just roll out those 35-year-old hits made perfect sense. The critical response was uniformly glowing and respectful.

Live, Numan’s not afraid to delve into his back catalogue (Cars, Are 'Friends' Electric?, I Die: You Die, etc), but lurching back and forth onstage, his jet-black hair flicking across his face, it's the recent material which really shines, as he recounts tales of a technology-stripped world decimated by global warming, where cultures merge simply to survive. As he says, it's a far cry from the boy-meets-girl fluff of your average top-10 hit - but then again, Numan was never your average pop star.

"The things I write about come from the little dark corners of my head. I don't want to repeat myself. People who’ve been around for a long time often tend to bland out a bit and become more middle of the road, or they hide in nostalgia and live on the back of what they did before. Both of those options are awful. Being proud of your legacy is one thing, but becoming trapped by it is another thing entirely."

Here's to the future! 

The re-released Dance is available now on double-purple vinyl via Beggars Arkive. Gary Numan brings The Savage Tour Pt.2 to Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, on Tuesday 13 March.