ERASURE NIGHTBIRD ALBUM MUTE, EMI RELEASE: JANUARY 24, 2005 (EUROPE), JANUARY 25, 2005 (USA) REVIEW: FEBRUARY 1, 2005

Woohoo, Vince and Andy are back! Not only with a new album, but their hearts and minds are also back in the music.
Lately, Erasure have been running on fumes, and “Loveboat” is a pretty crappy album, no matter how you look at it. The preview reports about “Nightbird” told us that Vince and Andy have found the joy again, and that they were really ready to make a classic Erasure album. And I think they have indeed rekindled the spirit that made me a fan all those years ago when “Victim of Love” was playing over and over again on my record player.
However, even though “Nightbird” is a whole truckload better than Erasure's recent output, it’s not a complete success. Some songs (like “All This Time Still Falling out of Love”, which is almost annoying) don’t really do anything for me, but when it works, it works big time. Just to mention a few, the first single “Breathe” has a fantastic melodic hook, and somewhat electroclashy “Here I Go Impossible Again” made me giddy with excitement when the chorus hit.
A big part of what I like is that Andy has toned down the falsetto singing, which makes for less strained vocals. In turn, Vince seems to have toned down his bleeps a bit though, which is a shame.
Some people – like our beloved editor Mikael – thinks that the album is a bit too smooth and cheesy, but Erasure have always been about catchy melodies and corny lyrics, so I don’t think much have changed there. I’m just glad they’re back to give us fabulous electronic pop again.
And cheese is good…

JOHAN CARLSSON