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Elly Roberts reviews

Erasure: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Distributed by
Mute

May 2007

Rating: 4/10

It’s more of the same from iconic duo Andy Bell and Vince Clarke.

For over 20 years, the pair collectively known as Erasure, have been rolling out anthemic dance tunes. So, no there’s no change here then. Why should you when you’ve been as successful as they have – 30 Top 40 singles and 11 Top 20 albums.

But, there is a problem emerging. Single I Could Fall In Love With You did reasonably well chart-wise, and I’m sure more will follow, though the tried and tested formula now sounds a tad predictable, tired, and in some ways, dated. This collection is also rather bland, except for the very personal nature of the lyrics by Bell, which deal with death, loss and love.

Erasure’s downfall is that they haven’t shown any significant progression. When they decided to rework some of their songs on the critically claimed Union Street, it was a stunning revelation in my mind. With Bell moving over to be near writing partner Clarke in Portland Maine, the pair embarked on this project last autumn, as they delved into a more computer based approach.

Retaining all the melodies they’re known for, Bell and Clarke go all out with the high energy synth dance beats. It all begins with Sunday Girl, a typical Erasure track which has shades of Abba thrown in for good luck. The pace and beats intensify on stomper Sucker For Love, but doesn’t match anything from their back catalogue.

Storm In A Teacup emerges as one of the better songs, even though, it’s a lament about his mother’s alcoholism, with Bell giving one of his finest performances. There isn’t much really going on with Fly Away, which is nothing more than a filler album track at best. By now the formula is starting to become, well, tedious.

Golden Heart ain’t much better either. Easing the frenetic pace, they drop the beats per minute for a softer mid-paced ballad with rolling synths, though it has little effect even when Bell does a lot of Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh’s. Darlene is more of the same.

In the main, Light At The End Of The World, is quite forgettable because the songs simply aren’t strong enough to call you back for more and more. Technically both know their stuff, but its not worked this time.

Weblink: erasureinfo.com

The full list of tracks included are :

1. Sunday Girl 2. I Could Fall In Love With You 3. Sucker For Love 4. Storm In A Teacup 5. Fly Away 6. Golden Heart 7. How My Eyes Adore You 8. Darlene 9. When A Lover Leaves You 10. Glass Angel

Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008. For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online, email Elly or call 07765 862017.

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: