Erasure - Review

For a band that always epitomised the fluffier side of electro-pop, there is a steely determination that runs through Erasure’s new album, Nightbird.

Things haven’t being going well for Vince Clarke and Andy Bell in recent years. After years of commercial success with danceable, tinkley-bomp pop campness, they got lost somewhere along the line.

Albums like Cowboy and Loveboat saw Erasure get miserable and, even worse, tuneless. With 2003’s cover album Other People’s Songs, the production was so half-hearted, it looked as if Vince had even lost his reputation for keyboard wizardry.

Nightbird is pretty much a make-or-break album and what a triumphant return to form it is. They have trawled through their archives (and some other acts’ too) and rediscovered a winning formula: upbeat pop, swoonsome melodic ballads and an array of electronic beeping.

The opening track, ‘No Doubt’, may not be the album’s strongest but it certainly underlines their message: “There's no room for doubt / For all the changes we've been through”. And as if to solidify that, ‘Here I Go Impossible Again’ hammers home a familiar-sounding and welcome dance track with a belting chorus that is reminiscent of massive hits like ‘Chains of Love’ or ‘Stop!’.

‘Let’s Take One More Rocket To The Moon‘ has an ethereal, hypnotic quality to it. It is a lilting, drowsy romantic ballad and contains some of Andy’s best vocals in a long time, beautifully supported by an emotive syth backwash.

‘Breathe‘, the successful first single, has the subtle infectiousness of a classic Erasure song, slowly getting under your skin, with a glorious sing-along chorus that reels you in.

If Erasure ever decided to cover ‘Time After Time‘, it wouldn’t sound too different from ‘Because Our Love is Real‘. Lyrically, with this song, Andy seems to be drawing on his recent personal life. Lines like, “When life is bitter and sore”, “Sometimes when I get upset”, “Sometimes when I don’t feel well” allude not only to his hip replacement, but presumably to his recently-revealed HIV-positive status. However, the song is an uplifting number focussing on the healing power of love and comes across as particularly moving.

The next single, ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ begins with an almost-aquatic aural soundscape that recalls the melody of Blue Savannah, before the driving percussive beat kicks in. With more hooks than a fishing trip, it retraces the hit-formula of golden era Erasure so effectively that you do wonder if it is a song you already know. It is commercially on the money and a guaranteed smash hit.

‘All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love‘ tries a little too hard. A hefty dose of Abbaesque, a hint of Donna Summer’s ‘Enough is Enough‘, a nod to modern dance music during the bridge, and to top it off some New Order guitar – it’s a heady recipe, with lots of mouth watering ingredients but ends up a bit of a lumpy disappointment; doubtless, it will work a treat on the dancefloors, especially when reheated and remixed.

The best track on the album is a low-key delight, ‘I Broke It All In Two‘. Never has Vince come so close to recreating the timeless beauty of Yazoo’s ‘Only You‘. It is a deceptively simple song that plays round and round in your head, and it is perhaps no coincidence that Andy has returned to his early-days of vocally aping Alison Moyet’s deep, soulful vocals here. The result is an impressive companion piece to the 1982 hit.

The final track, ‘I Bet You’re Mad At Me‘, sounds more like a Pet Shop Boys title, but is, in fact, another wonderful addition to the Erasure canon of songs and demonstrates conclusively that there is a still a place for the band in their 21st year together.

Nightbird may not win them any new fans, but it will certainly help them reclaim the fans they have lost in the last decade.

Just as the obituaries were being written for the band, Vince and Andy have returned with a cohesive and confident album that can rival Wild or even The Innocents. Fantastic chord progressions, well-structured melodic songs, increasingly revealing lyrics and disarming, thoughtful arrangements are the feathers on display of this Night bird. Perhaps they should have called the album Phoenix.

Originally published 24th January 2005

Didn't really get the commercial success it deserved. The problem as I see it is that they aren't given the chance to appeal to beyond their core fanbase - partly because they don't get the radioplay to put it out there to the wider public, but partly because they don't play the media game well by doing rounds of high-profile TV appearances