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album // Tomorrow's World
It is vaguely ironic that the reason
this site exists is because of my love of Erasure,
yet it's the new album from Erasure - still, after over nearly twenty
years of my thirty five years my favourite band - that's been my
least-favourite release on the newly-independent Mute
this year. I'm not too manly to admit that I've become accustomed
over the past two-and-a-bit decades to getting a bit emotional on
the first listen to a new Erasure single or album, usually at the
point in the first song where there's a trademark chord change into
that space that exists between euphoria and melancholy, that space
that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell
have claimed as their own. I didn't get that feeling with lead single
'When I Start To (Break It All Down)', and it only manifested itself
briefly on Tomorrow's World's opening track 'Be With You'.
I must be missing something perhaps. Reviews I've
seen quotes from (I rarely read any other reviews if I'm writing
a review myself) uniformly seem to portray Tomorrow's World
as a wake-up call to the various pretenders and contemporary / retro
electronic pop acts that this is how a electro-pop album
should sound. For some reason, that's not a feeling I share. I hope
it will grow on me; if so I'll be back here re-writing of my intense
love of Tomorrow's World, but that's not where my ears
and emotions are presently, and consequently I feel like a traitor
writing this after these years of devotion.
'Does this song have any words?' said my three-year
old youngest daughter upon listening to the 'chorus' of 'Then I
Go Twisting'. That chorus is almost entirely constructed from that
irritating, strained, hiccupping vocal effect so prevalent in R&B,
chart pop and whatever the latest dance music strands are called.
That effect is most pronounced on 'Then I Go Twisting' and renders
that track almost unlistenable to me, whereas it should be a piece
of whimsical pop. A similar, but less pronounced effect, is in evidence
on the lyrically-sinister 'A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot', which seems
to aim for Lady Gaga-style dance-pop and generally succeeds in that
tiresome aspiration, but that vocal effect is too prominent, too
distracting and frankly leaves this track feeling like a wasted
opportunity to create a piece of slightly dangerous story-telling.
With both of these songs, I'm sorry to say, I can't wait for them
to finish; but mercifully, like each of the nine songs on Tomorrow's
World, they last just over three minutes so there's never too
long to wait.
These two tracks, in fairness, are the worst. They
sound like remixes of far better songs which, when turned over to
misguided producers, get utterly swamped by that producer's own
ideas. Erasure mixes over the past, let's see, fifteen years maybe,
have been a mixed bag and it's consequently no surprise that there
hasn't been an Erasure remix compilation whereas the more discerning
Depeche Mode have notched up two. It's easy, when
listening to Tomorrow's World to point the finger at producer Frankmusik,
one of those producers du jour that everyone raves about
but who here seems content to modernise Vince Clarke and Andy Bell
to the point where far too many concessions to contemporary pop
are sprayed over the tracks (particulary in the less than reverential
way he approaches Andy's vocal). The fractured, awkward R&B
of 'What Will I Say When You're Gone?' is another track that I find
difficult to listen to, and it's not just because of the vocal effects;
somehow Frankmusik, who is credited with synths alongside Vince
- quite why a master of the instrument like Vince needs any assistance
at all is beyond me, and that reference on the sleeve is perhaps
one of the most reprehensible things about Frankmusik's involvement
- seems to have hammered the life out of Vince's re-acquaintaince
with analogue technology, creating rhythms and arrangements that
Vince's recent remix work and just his general musical legacy would
never have hinted at. In fairness, it's impossible to fully decipher
how much of these songs' arrangements are because of Frankmusik's
involvement, and it's perhaps convenient to blame him for the end
result.
Or perhaps it is possible to discern the
way these songs may have sounded. There are some big clues on disc
two of the limited edition version, where the original demos for
four of the tracks are included. Compared to other Erasure demos
released officially over the years, these versions are pretty well
progressed, and actually stand up as near enough perfectly-formed
tracks in their own right. In fact, Frankmusik has stated that he
used Andy's vocal takes from some of the demos, prefering these
to the recordings he made himself, referencing his own limitations
there (as if we needed him to actually come out and say that). Additionally,
disc two includes two superior remixes of tracks from the album
by Gareth Jones, a Mute associate since 1983 and
an on-off producer / collaborator with Vince and Andy since the
Crackers International EP. As good as these versions and
demos are, they do rather make listening to the first disc all the
more difficult, since they point toward what this album could have
been if they'd only played it a bit safer, stayed a bit closer to
the Mute base camp rather than calling in a presumably pretty expensive
producer. Check out the dodgy mix of 'When I Start To (Break It
All Down)' by Frankmusik on the second disc, which sounds starkly
average next to Jones's superior appreciation of what makes an Erasure
album an Erasure album.
The vocal tinkering that prevails throughout the
album is all the more frustrating in the context of Andy Bell's
performances on Popstar To Opera Star earlier this year;
okay, so he forgot his words and the complexity and unfamiliarity
of the songs were a stretch for Andy, but those peformances served
to highlight just how strong his voice is; a voice that didn't need
to be manipulated and strangled, almost becoming another instrument
for Frankmusik to soullessly fuck about with.
Still, disappointed though I am, in the course of
writing this I'm pleased to say that a number of the songs have
grown on me, and overall I do believe these are good songs (mostly);
however, they're good songs poorly produced. The best tracks are
those which are more quintessentially Erasure in nature. Strangely
too, the single 'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' stands out
as a highlight; I say strange, because it isn't my favourite Erasure
single by a long way, but perhaps it is just because it comes as
a relief after the maddeningly messy conclusion to 'Whole Lotta
Love Run Riot'.
Highlights, for me, would include the euphoric disco-pop
of the opening track 'Be With You', the emotional majesty of 'Fill
Us With Fire', the Loveboat-esque tortured electro-blues
of 'You've Got To Save Me Right Now', the defiant stomp of 'I Lose
Myself' (one track that I can see definitely includes Andy's demo
vocal, at least on the verses) and the quintessentially slow-motion
closing track poignancy of the pained 'Just When I Thought It Was
Ending'. So that's most of the album, but I'd still prefer either
to have an album of Gareth Jones mixes or for Mute to make all of
the demos available.
Disc two includes the bonus track 'Give Me Life'
which I have also started to warm to (in spite of its faux-classical
motifs), mainly because it seems to come with an echo of an Erasure
sensuality and drama from yesteryear. The best track of the whole
project for me is the cutesy synthpop balladry of 'Shot To The Heart',
only available from iTunes as a bonus track. 'Shot To The Heart'
could have appeared on either of Erasure's first two albums, or
even on Yazoo's You And Me Both. Still,
it's odd to find the most resonant memories of my favourite band's
glory moments in a bonus offcut.
This has been the most difficult Documentary Evidence
review of all to write and I apologise for the lack of impartiality.
As I conclude I am once again listening to a shortened playlist
consisting only of the Gareth Jones mixes, 'Shot To The Heart' and
the early versions, and wondering whether I'll be able to fall in
love with this album much more than I do already. The only other
time I felt like this was with Chorus, which fast became
my favourite Erasure album. My initial reticence there came from
an unfamiliarity with (or under-appreciation of) analogue sounds
and that was quickly overtaken by a sense of awe at the inventiveness
of that LP; I sense I won't have the same epiphanic attraction to
Tomorrow's World. I can only remain hopeful that the more
'Erasure' versions of these songs prevail on the tour and the companion
live album from the Roundhouse date I'm going to. If not, I'll be
campaigning for a Let It Be Naked-style rework by Gareth
Jones and the immediate release of the full set of demos from the
Mute vaults.
cd/lcd/i:
1. Be With You
2. Fill Us With Fire
3. What Will I Say When You’re Gone?
4. You’ve Got To Save Me Right Now
5. A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot
6. When I Start To (Break It All Down)
7. I Lose Myself
8. Then I Go Twisting
9. Just When I Thought It Was Ending
10. Shot To The Heart (iTunes-exclusive bonus track)
bonus cd (lcd only)/li:
1. I Lose Myself (No Self Control Mix by Gareth Jones)
2. Give Me Life
3. Fill Us With Fire (Fired Up Mix by Gareth Jones)
4. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Frankmusik Remix)
5. Clash (I Lose Myself ) (Demo Version)
6. Big Song (Fill Us With Fire) (Demo Version)
7. Major 7th (Be With You) (Demo Version)
8. Save Me (You’ve Got To Save Me Right Now) (Demo Version)
single // When I Start To (Break It All Down)
'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' is the first
single to be taken from Tomorrow's World, Erasure's
first new album since 2007. The Frankmusik-produced track was initially
made available as a single-track download in August 2011 and was
given a proper CD single release in September. 'When I Start To
(Break It All Down)' – even by Erasure's standards that's
a pretty long title (but check out the album tracks above for some
even longer ones) – received its first radio plays on Monday
15 August during Radio 2's morning show and was subsequently made
available via Mute's Soundcloud page.
The track has all the classic Vince Clarke
and Andy Bell moments – big chorus, emotional,
self-deprecating vocals about lost love, gorgeous melodies and quirky
synths. Yet somehow it sounds even bigger, almost too big for an
Erasure song in a way. My friend Chris said that he thought the
track felt 'a bit like current pop', which he said he expected something
by Frankmusik to sound like, but that it's a little unexpected from
an Erasure track. I can't help but agree, and it's probably the
first Erasure single I've ever heard that hasn't made me feel very
emotional upon the first play. It's since grown on me, but for a
pioneering electronic duo it makes needless concessions to contemporary
pop styles. There's a moment just before the bridge where Andy gets
all shouty, like this is some sort of pop-R&B crossover, but
it does herald a massive 'woah'-fest and a very pretty, and very
classically Erasure, descending synth melody from Vince. However,
I'm not so sure about the Coldplay-style intro.
'Tomorrow's World' which, at the time of writing
my initial review in August had only just been completed according
to Vince Clarke's Twitter
feed, is a cover version of the theme to the BBC technology series
that I recall used to be on every Thursday evening when I was growing
up (I could be wrong), just after Top Of The Pops. Sadly
with the passage of time, I don't recognise anything of the BBC
theme music in this Vincestrumental, but that barely matters. This
is bold, classic analogue Vince – lots of rich, bassy tones,
squelchy sounds, thudding beats and melodies that have a certain
Kraftwerkishness to them. Funnily enough, one of my only memories
of Tomorrow's World from my childhood was the presenter
interacting with one of the various generations of Kraftwerk's
robots, so there's a nice link for you. On the downside, 'Tomorrow's
World' hints at what the album could have sounded like without Frankmusik.
Remixes come from Steve Smart & Westfunk, Kris
Menace and Little Loud. Steve Smart's mix with x retains all of
the vocal but hitches on a faster beat. Unlike the mixes by Kris
Menace or Little Loud, the pitch of the vocal is unaffacted by getting
attached to a faster rhythm, and it's not a bad mix overall. Andy's
vocal is slowed down on the bass-heavy Kris Menace version, and
doesn't quite fit in time with the music, whereas with the usually
on-point Little Loud it's accelerated and sounds daft. Little Loud's
mixes are usually uniformly superb (check the mixes for Mute acts
Goldfrapp and Yeasayer) but here
it doesn't seem to work so well, although the retro Eighties-style
electro soul backing track has a certain muffled charm.
cd/i:
1. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Single Mix)
2. Tomorrow’s World
3. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Steve Smart & Westfunk
Main Room Mix - Edit)
4. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Kris Menace Remix)
5. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Little Loud Remix)
i:
1. When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Single Mix)
single // Be With You
'Be With You' is the second single to be taken from
Erasure's Tomorrow's World. The opening
track on the album, 'Be With You' is a strong, upbeat opener –
joyous, rapturous vocals from Andy Bell, classic
Vince Clarke synths ranging from euphoric stabs
to gentle melodies, and a solid pop-dance 4/4 beat - only with one
unnecessary addition from producer Frankmusik in the form of an
irritating Autotune vocal effect that was appended to the word 'me'
at the end of the first few lines in each verse. Sadly it's one
of those elements in a song that you find yourself focussing on
far too much, and just prevents 'Be With You' becoming one of Erasure's
all-time classic pop tracks.
The single comes with an edited version of 'Be With
You' by Daniel Miller and Mute's
in-house guy David 'Saxon' Greenep, plus single
and extended remixes from Moto Blanco which emphasise the disco-pop
dimension of the track; their versions are nice, and have a piece
of Andy Bell's vocal that doesn't seem to have made it to the final
version of the track, but they're a little bit too Europop for my
liking. The Starshapes mix has a dreamy quality, but, if the vocal
effects were annoying on the original, the stuttering effect to
stretch Andy's vocal is even more irritating at times here. That
said, on the whole it's pretty nice.
Rounding off the CD is a superior mix from Gareth
Jones who, as stated for the album review above, knows
how to sensitively mix an Erasure track, and as a result his mix
elevates the recognisably 'Erasure' elements of the track, restoring
some sort of normality to Bell's vocal. There's also an acoustic
version embellished by strummed guitar and beautiful strings which
would have been far better if they'd re-recorded Andy's vocal rather
than using the Frankmusik productions. 'Be With You' also includes
the B-side 'Never Let You Down' which was produced by Vince and
sounds like it should have been a spare track from the I Say,
I Say, I Say album. It's nice to hear what Erasure might have
sounded like right now without Frankmusik's overbearing production,
and Vince's synth rhythms and thippy percussion sound brilliant
and timeless. Andy's vocal seems to falter a little on the falsettos,
but it also includes what sounds like vocals from one of the songs
he performed on Popstar To Operastar, pitched lower than
he would normally sing, and showing just what his voice is capable
of when it's not tampered with.
There's a promo doing the rounds with superior club
mixes from Tony Marino which set Vince's bubbling synths and Andy's
rapturous vocals against massive, urgent, dancefloor-friendly beats.
Quite who decides what gets put on the actual release and what doesn't
from the promos didn't quite get it right this time, as these versions
knock spots off the Moto Blanco mixes.
Thanks to Chris for sending me the promo mixes.
cd/i:
1. Be With You (Radio Version)
2. Be With You (Moto Blanco Remix Radio Edit)
3. Never Let You Down
4. Be With You (Love Is Coming - mix by Gareth Jones)
5. Be With You (Moto Blanco Club Remix)
6. Be With You (Starshapes Remix)
7. Be With You (Acoustic Version)
single // Fill Us With Fire
'Fill Us With Fire' is the third single taken from
Erasure's Tomorrow's World, their patchy,
disappointing yet curiously well-received from last year. As songs
go, 'Fill Us With Fire' was one of the album's few highlights, managing
to maintain enough of Vince Clarke and Andy
Bell's quality electronic pop songwriting without getting
swamped by Frankmusik's dubious production, and so it's choice as
a single makes complete sense. A euphoric crossing place between
more austere pop and the kind of high-energy euro-dance which tends
to get frowned-upon, 'Fill Us With Fire' is both classically Erasure
and resolutely contemporary, dominated by deep bass, reverb-drenched
stabs and the shimmering melodies and riffs that no-one does quite
like Vince Clarke. Andy Bell sings a huge, euphoric vocal straight
from the Blondie school of lyrical contradictions, mixing hands-in-the-air
joyousness with more austere subject matter.
The eight track CD packages up two previously-released
tracks (the perfect pop of iTunes album bonus track 'Shot To The
Heart' and Gareth Jones' masterful mix of 'Fill
With Fire' from the Tomorrow's World special edition),
as well as mixes of the single, 'A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot' and
'Be With You'. 'A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot' was one of the least
impressive tracks on Tomorrow's World (although, curiously,
one of Andy Bell's personal favourites) which is here given resprays
by Wayne G / Andy Allder and XOQ (aka Timothy Wilkes, who mixed
Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore's VCMG
project). Opt for the latter if you want elastic techno sounds and
impressive bass intensity; opt for the former if you want hands-in-the-air
euphoria; opt for neither if you can't stand what Frankmusik did
to Andy Bell's voice on this track. Jrmx's mix of 'Fill Us With
Fire' goes for a housey uplift, while Liam Keegan's version heads
off in a harder direction and revealing lots of shimmery Clarkeisms
in the process, but neither mix is particularly essential. The Yannis
mix of 'Be With You' is comparatively excellent, going for a heavy,
cut-up reworking of Tomorrow's World's love-it—or-hate-it
title track, even managing to throw in a line from 'A Little Respect'
in the process.
As a presumably final release from the Tomorrow's
World project, 'Fill Us With Fire' reminds of Erasure's greatness,
but also, in the inclusion of the Vince Clarke-produced 'Shot To
The Heart' and Gareth Jones' remix, reminds yet again of what this
album could have been - but wasn't.
cd/i:
1. Fill Us With Fire (Single Mix)
2. Shot To The Heart
3. Fill Us With Fire (Fired Up Mix by Gareth Jones)
4. A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot (Wayne G & Andy Allder Atlantis
Anthem)
5. Fill Us With Fire (Jrmx Club)
6. A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot (XOQ Remix)
7. Fill Us With Fire (Liam Keegan Remix)
8. Be With You (Yannis Unruly Mix)
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