Erasure make for an interesting musical case study.
It’s been 32 years since they began an affair with the charts that resulted in some 25 millions units being shifted and their becoming adored with a degree of ubiquity in the LGBT community, but still they remain a largely left field concern.
Their excellent 17th studio album, ‘World Be Gone’, will not be changing that, because it demonstrates a familiar commitment to the band's signature sound.
It's a sound led by the evergreen vocal stylings of the iconic Andy Bell and the electro production of Vince Clarke; production that sounded futuristic in the ‘80s but which now seems defiantly retro.
The opening song here, Love You to the Sky, ushers in familiar Erasure territory. Chugging, but pretty, chords and drum loops provide elegant synthetic backing while Bell’s tender lyrics tell us of love and loss, of kindness, gentility and of passion and anger.
Elsewhere, tracks like Lousy Sum of Nothing and Be Careful What You Wish For! carry off high camp delivery with compelling assertiveness. The latter track has a gorgeously weighted chorus; all old school dictums and musical theatre sass underpinned with wary optimism. It’s a marvellous song that demonstrates a songwriting partnership with plenty left in the tank.
As mentioned, an element that makes Erasure so interesting is the way that the band’s production has clung to its electro soul. But this may have been to the detriment of picking up fans outside of their core audience. In this respect, tracks like World Be Gone and Sweet Summer Loving deliver, with the latter using masterful choral layering to tell of Bell’s search for love after the death of his partner in 2012.
But when Erasure’s songs don’t quite deliver, on tracks like Oh What a World, A Bitter Parting and the album closer Just a Little Love, the result is a little difficult to process emotionally. One feels as though these songs might have stood a chance if delivered differently, but that the production has got in the way.
And yet that musical dogma is almost certainly their USP among long-time fans, who might question the integrity of the band were they to radically alter the sound. In that regard, 'World Be Gone' fits seamlessly into a fascinating catalogue.
Erasure Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed January 31 2018 - DUBLIN Olympia Theatre Dublin
Fri February 02 2018 - DUNDEE Caird Hall
Sat February 03 2018 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Sun February 04 2018 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Newcastle City Hall
Tue February 06 2018 - LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall
Wed February 07 2018 - HULL Hull City Hall
Thu February 08 2018 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat February 10 2018 - CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
Sun February 11 2018 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Mon February 12 2018 - NOTTINGHAM Royal Concert Hall
Wed February 14 2018 - IPSWICH Regent Theatre
Thu February 15 2018 - SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall Southampton
Fri February 16 2018 - CARDIFF St Davids Hall
Sun February 18 2018 - AYLESBURY Waterside Theatre
Mon February 19 2018 - BRIGHTON Brighton Dome
Tue February 20 2018 - GUILDFORD G Live
Thu February 22 2018 - NORWICH Norwich U.E.A.
Fri February 23 2018 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
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