To look at John Grant, you may imagine some kind of rustic, folksy music. Instead, he uses 70s era electronics, 80s new wave, and his malleable voice to create something entirely its own. Sometimes experimental, almost avant garde, other times very danceable pop tunes.
Chvrches is a synthpop band from Scotland who have successfully taken the sound of the '80s into the present.
In the same way that Interpol wore their Joy Division influence on their sleeves, so do White Lies clearly owe a huge debt to Tears For Fears... without really sounding LIKE them, outside of the vocal similarities or the occasional guitar lick.
David Sylvian started as the singer of Japan in the early '70s. After they broke up in the early '80s he continued on as a solo artist. And he's still going. Many of his recordings are instrumental/ambient/experimental. His first album or 1999's Dead Bees On A Cake are good starting points for fans of Japan.
New Model Army fit beside (early) Killing Joke and Cult in the post-punk 80s. And like those 2 bands, they've continued making music into their 4th decade.
