Erasure Album: “Light at the End of the World”

it's hard to believe that erasure's been churning out the hits for nearly 22 years now. after a couple of lackluster and questionable releases (namely 'other people's songs), 'a light at the end of the world' really is a return to erasure's glory days. and since i'm not a big fan of saying 'it's their best since...,' i can say with certainty that it's certainly my *favorite* erasure album since 'i say, i say, i say' because it holds a lot of the same fairytale charm as the latter.

erasure was, is, and will always be about making your rearend shake. after the somewhat meloncholy 'nightbird,' 'a light at the end of the world' is dancefloor stomper after dancefloor stomper. it's in this arena they've always excelled ('victim of love,' 'sometimes,' chains of love,' etc, etc, etc). the opener, 'sunday girl' is a worthy opener: lots of energy, nice use of minor chord verse and major chord chorus. the first single, 'i could fall in love with you,' is in the same vein as 'don't say your love is killing me,' and 'run to the sun.' a great first single. hi-nrg, of sure. by the time you hear 'sucker for love,' (a disco-inspired romp)it's pretty clear erasure went for it all--and succeeded wonderfully. these are some of the best songs they've done in ages. 'storm in a teacup' is a nice ballad that also uses some nice minor/major chord combos. for me, the standout is 'fly away.' it sounds like it belongs on 'i say' and incorporates some of vince's best chord structures, a great bridge, and a great chorus. at the end of the album, you realize there's nary a bad track to be found. it's everything you want in an erasure album. and i mean everything: danceable, catchy, andy's insane vocal range, and lots of fun.

if there's any criticism (and i use the term lightly), andy bell ran out of lyrical ideas about 1994, but it hardly matters. the positive is that he delivers what he has with lots of pure emotion and sincerity, so it's really pretty easy overlook--after all, with music like this it's all about the execution, and they're firing on all cylinders. erasure never pretended to be a band concerned with artistic merits or breaking new ground, nor should they. they were my first concert back in 1988, and i'm happy to report that 22 years into their career they still have *it.*

I've been an Erasure fan since the beginning -- unlike many who got on board much later, I actually remember the rare Thomas the Train cover for "Oh L'Amour" -- and I have to say this is a terrific album! After the interesting but ultimately unsatisfying reinvention for "Union Street" and the equally interesting but not terribly original "Other People's Songs" -- and let's not even talk about "Loveboat", this is a much-needed return to their vintage synth-driven sound.

More upbeat and peppy than "Nightbird" (which I also loved), "Light at the End of the World" sounds like a cross between "Cowboy" and "Wild!" to me -- with a little bit of "Chorus" and "I Say I Say I Say" thrown in for good measure. "Sucker For Love" sounds like an updated version of "La Gloria", and it's even more fun. "Sunday Girl" is a perfect synthpop masterpiece. "I Could Fall In Love With You" puts me in mind of "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me", and so it goes on with all Vince's vintage bleeps, buzzes, and knob-twiddling. By the way, if you've got quick ears, you'll also here echoes of "Always", "Treasure", "Snappy", "Crown of Thorns", and even "March On Down The Line". Listen closely! :)

It sounds like he's dusted off some of the old analog keyboards and sequencers, to great effect. Andy's vocals are in tip-top shape, only stretched a little on the deepest notes (like the notes he used to lose himself in so beautifully on "You Surround Me"). A fantastic album, and it couldn't come at a better time.

Welcome back, Erasure!

A shorter, punchier Erasure release, but of course not without it's dark moments. This is not the greatest of their albums, though it is very, very infectious. Nightbird is hard to top.

There seems to be two Erasures - One is the duo that gave us Chains of Love, Star, Chorus, Don't Say Your Love is Killing Me, and Freedom. Then there is another Erasure that gave us much of the ERASURE, I SAY and NIGHTBIRD albums. Sadder, darker, warmer. This new record is sadly the former. It's great dance music, hummable and gospel-tinged with a 130 bpm disco thump, but besides Storm in a Teacup this is a pretty shallow album. A great shallow album. You can hear the Other People's Songs/Electric Blue influences.

The only REAL complaints I can voice is the relatively short running time, a general lack of variance in tunes from song to song compared to some Erasure outings of the past, and the cheap-ish looking cover and packaging. If you are a fan though - you can buy confidently, knowing this record is somewhere in the WILD!/COWBOY range of vibe and quality, and certainly better than others...

Since the first time I've listened to LATEOTW I took it as the album that I've been expecting from Erasure since they released Cowboy. I mean they finally recorded another upbeat album after 3 slower works (Loveboat, OPS & Nightbird). Ok, it has been a great experience to see Erasure recording more 'mature' and even challenging ones, but it's awesome to discover they still can sound as full of energy as when they were younger. All its 10 songs follow the basic rules from pop without any guilt as usual, but it sounds even more inspired to me in relation to their last ones. Many great (or even terrific) hooks can be heard all through its 10 songs and Andy's lyrics still talk about love most part of the time, what isn't a deffect when you own a skilful hand to write as Andy does, and they continue to be accessible/bittersweet, but they are more creative if you compare them to Nightbird's ones. You can verify this on reading the lyrics from Darlene (Andy should write more ones about fictious girls. Do you remember the also brilliant Joan?!), Sunday Girl (or "try not to lose your stable relationship because of a sassy girl that you met on a dance club") or Storm In A Teacup (a touching family drama which is partially autobiographical). Regarding Vince's synths, he continues to prove why he's a wizard in inventing and re-inventing electronic sounds to let Erasure's music always sound fresh. And his melodic sense keeps intact indeed even after 21 years of career. He has never forgotten how essential a good melody is, no matter how noisy Pop Music has become after the Eighties. Its 1st single, Could Fall In Love With You, isn't the best track of the album, but it's a thrilling one anyway, while Sunday Girl (its very well-chosen 2nd one) sounds as a sensational blend between two tracks from OPS: Make Me Smile & Everyday. Absolutely irresistible! Sucker For Love is unexpectedly vigorous & expansive, including Andy has said it's the 'Love To Hate You' moment of this record, what means you just can love it or hate it. Needless to say I love it. And how! On the other hand Glass Angel, which Andy has said is a kind of sequel to Rock Me Gently (from the self-titled album), sounds as an epic ballad and it's not by chance it was chosen to close (very well) the album. Actually, even the ballads from this work are full of strong beats, what shows how excited they were about making this one. Storm In A Teacup is probably one of their all time saddest ballads (along with The Circus, Hallowed Ground, Crown Of Thorns and Grace) while When A Lover Leaves You is wonderfully romantic and the most beautiful moment of this record in terms of melody at my point of ear. Darlene is so pleasant as a walk through a beautiful park or a nice meeting in a Cafe. Andy has said its melody was inspired by "La Isla Bonita" from Madonna, but I cannot see a big similarity between their respective ones indeed. They're definitely not so 'cousins' as Love To Hate You and I Will Survive from Gloria Gaynor. Well, Spanish rhythms are always welcome, so whatever... The sequence Fly Away (terrific chorus and vocal by Andy), Golden Heart (the synths from Vince are particularly catching here) and How My Eyes Adore You (aside from the chorus, the lines are almost spoken instead of sung here) represents the weaker part of this really incredible work, but weak is a forbidden word for describing any song of this one, even the two bonus tracks. And VIVA ERASURE!

I've been a fan of Erasure for nearly twenty years and I give them credit for trying different musical approaches in albums like Loveboat and Union Street, but Light at the End of the World is the approach I like. It doesn't break any new ground. They are simply doing what they do best. Well written electronic pop with solid rhythm and catchy melodies. It's in the mold of what they were doing in the '90s and it's currently in heavy rotation on my CD player. I dock it a star because the overall production quality doesn't sound quite as crisp as some past efforts, but it's not a fatal flaw. I'm just picky about that sort of thing. If you are familiar with them, like their music and haven't heard this, I would highly recommend picking it up. You won't be disappointed.