Has it really been 26 years since Oh L’Amour? Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, better known to their legions of fans as Erasure, can honestly be hailed as one of the most successful synth-pop bands of all time. From their 1985 debut Wonderland to 1988’s The Innocents; and from 1992’s remarkable celebration of ABBA songs, Abba-esque to the delicate beauty of 2005’s Nightbird – Erasure has soldiered on through highlights and low, selling in excess of 25 million records.
Tomorrow’s World, their 14th studio album, harkens back to the heady days of the early ‘90s with style and panache, and in the process happens to be one of their most exciting releases of the last decade. Bell’s voice is in fine form, his trademark falsetto soaring to astonishing heights as Clarke backs the proceedings up with a plethora of headily pulsing beats, surging synths and flowery rhythms.
Exploring the age-old themes of regret, recollection, reflection and epiphany, Tomorrow’s World is, all told, a hopeful record; focusing not on what has passed; rather, its heart belongs in the future – thus the title, I reckon.
Things kick off with the joyful strains of Be With You, its bouncy club anthem feel transporting the listener back to 1992 and the diva-led tracks that seemed to be the staple back then. Bell and Clarke revisit their Chorus-era days with the wonderful and bounce-eliciting I Lose Myself and Fill Us With Fire, while the stirringly soulful When I Start To (Break It All Down) brings to mind their work on 1987’s brilliant The Circus.
When all is said and done, Tomorrow’s World fits nicely with the rest of Erasure’s oeuvre. Radio-friendly, with no songs any longer than four minutes long, this is a snappy and succinctly straightforward record. Erasure has always been a soul band with electronic sensibilities, and this record reflects that ethos perfectly. Wearing their hearts happily on their sleeves, Erasure has demonstrated that they still have stories to tell; and oh, boy, do they still tell them beautifully.
Best Track: When I Start To (Break It All Down)
If You Like This, You’ll Like: Chorus ERASURE, Soft Universe PNAU
In A Word: Soulfulectronica
BY THOMAS BAILEY
