Album title: World Be Gone
Artist: Erasure
Genre: Synthpop
Nationality: English
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Seventeenth
Estimated Rating:
Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? Yes
Average RYM Score: 2.90
Never one of my favourite bands, Erasure, like their parent band Yazoo, were what I think I've mentioned before one of my workmates used to disparagingly refer to as “puff bands”, along with the likes of Communards, Bronskibeat, Fiction Factory and Flock of Seagulls. But as I've gotten older but not necessarily wiser, I've become a little less rigid in my musical opinions (after all, I can now listen to Black Metal and even some jazz, to say nothing of punk!) and so I'm happy to give them a go. Never listened to one of their albums, so all my experience with them is predicated on their singles, and I must say the opener is very good. The title track is a nice ballad, and there's the barest nod back to their big hit, “Only You” as Yazoo in “A Bitter Parting” - just a few notes, but enough to tip the wink to those who know the song. Nice touch.
Quite a lot of this is slow, or at least lower-key than I would have expected; perhaps a sign the band are maturing and slowing down slightly? Of course, as I've said, I've never heard a full album of theirs, so maybe this is how Erasure albums go usually. I just would have expected, on the strength of the singles, a bouncier, poppier sort of dancy kind of thing. Not that I'm complaining. Actually, maybe I am: it's becoming a little dreary and I could probably go for some dancy pop in among all the kind of darker, slower stuff. “Lousy Sum of Nothing” has a kind of semi-gospel feel to it, and most of what's here is pretty morose. I guess he's making a political or ecological statement, or both. Yeah but I kind of miss the vacuous bounce of “Sometimes”, “Who Needs Love Like That” and “Oh l'Amour”. A good album though, certainly, and deeper than I had expected.
Check out more from this artist? Probably not
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Actual Rating:
