Erasure – The Neon

Mute

Despite impressions of the “are they still going?” sort, Erasure records are always worth a bash. Arguably, unlike a lot of their synthpop contemporaries in the ’80s, they’ve consistently respected the format. A bunch of songs, not too long, no faffing about with excessively long instrumentals. Pop discipline, that’s the order of the day.

Such as: Andy Bell‘s voice is in fine form. It typically is, but where he’s been consistently impressive for my money is that while he definitely can show off with vocalism (see my review of his Torsten In Queereteria), he doesn’t do that in Erasure; or rather, it’s the kind of showing off that doesn’t quite sound like showing off — closer “Kid You’re Not Alone” showing a falsetto that few gents of his age could dream of, and the sort of vibrato-less singing that sounds simple but is bastard difficult.

Speaking of Bell’s Torsten…, I was mildly anticipating some of the stuff from there to creep in — the extended vocalisms, the more explicitly sordid lyrical content. But no — and that’s probably for the best. Pop discipline, innit.

We’ve got a few of the well-established Erasure tropes here — subdued chest-thumper “Tower Of Love”, demure piano number “New Horizons”, songs of dancing and romancing (opener “Hey Now (I Got A Feeling)”), melancholy end-of-the-pier “Fallen Angel”. Besides the opener, there’s another tune that jumps out saying “this is a single af” — “Careful What I Try To Do”, which is the kind of warm blanket Erasure single that I always forget I want until it appears in my eyeline.

I’ve been thinking for a while that Vince Clarke‘s synthing has been influenced by digital means — assuming that he’s made the switch to digital means — but it might be the case that his genius lies in limiting himself. By and large this sounds well Erasure — those thick pulsing basslines, the metronomic thrust of ostinato figures, the subtly baroque-ish crossing melodic lines. At times it’s accentuated with more “modern” sounding bits — a sparing thick and dirty timbre on “Fallen Angel” — but by and large this sounds like an Erasure album that could’ve been made at any time in the last thirty-odd years, made with the classic Erasure gear.

It’s a banger, you understand, and I think you can only make bangers for 30+ years with a bit of pop discipline. Just look what happened to Lady Gaga after her second album (or arguably after her first). No discipline, you see.

It could be a concern that they’re falling into cliché, but by and large there’s enough wit and respect for dancing and heartbreak (the proper subjects of synthy pop) to avoid that. And Bell is still capable of a witty turn of phrase that throws open the doors to the gay bar (“Destroyed all the rumours / With a stick of warpaint”). A welcome return from popristocracy that never went away.

-Kev Nickells-