Charisma takes many forms, such as Lemmy’s gruff, Marlboro-tugging twinkle, or the kind that Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October has. Bounding on to our Zoom call, the Texan singer is the livest of livewires; a heavily inked puppy dog with a voice from Saturday morning cartoons, who barely needs prompting to spark a 40-minute screed pinballing from his kicked cocaine habit to London’s high-end perfume circuit (“Penhaligon’s is the best!”).
Furstenfeld’s almost indecent quotient of X-factor is just one reason why his modest but obsessed pocket of UK fans cheered Blue October’s return last month. The other is that the band played their classic Foiled album front-to-back – which they never managed to do here back in 2006 – for its 20th anniversary.
