An edited version of this review originally appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post.

Despite his many visits to the Royal Concert Hall over the years, few in last night’s audience appeared to recognise OMD keyboardist Paul Humphreys, now performing with Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken as part of Onetwo. Despite some initial nervousness (1), their brooding, dramatic synthpop was politely received, (2) with the warmest applause reserved for the instantly recognisable Propaganda classic Duel. (3)

Although they have never won the critical acclaim of fellow Eighties survivors the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure have achieved a similar level of success, on their own terms, without ever bending to musical fashions. You can always spot an Erasure song – but you might struggle to guess the decade in which it was recorded.

For this reason, the duo – Andy Bell as enthusiastic as ever on vocals, Vince Clarke as impassive as ever on keyboards – can easily switch between old and new material on stage, without anyone noticing the join. The new songs may not sell quite as well as they used to, but last night’s capacity crowd lapped them up as readily as the old hits. Opening the set, recent single Sunday Girl (no, not the Blondie number) got all three tiers on their feet, where they remained throughout. (4) Not even the Pet Shop Boys managed that, when they played here in June.

But then, Erasure have always been more Pop than Art, and they’ve never been above letting their audience know that they’re having fun too: the three impeccably glamorous backing singers struggled to keep straight faces during Chains Of Love, and Andy performed old favourite Oh L’Amour as a duet with a fake fur stole called “Mint Sauce”. For beneath all the costumes and camp (paint-splattered suits, ridiculous Andy Warhol wigs, army fatigue cocktail dresses), there lies an unassuming generosity of spirit, which welcomes everyone to Erasure’s party. Long may they party on.

(Photo by Sarah)

(1) ...which surprised me, as I was expecting an assured, ice-maidenly, This Is Art Darleenks performance from La Brücken, who seemed somewhat uncomfortable in her own skin. But then the minimal staging didn't help, with the three performers merely plonked in a static row in front of a black curtain. Arty synthpop needs visuals, donthca know?

(2) ...at least, by those who didn't start chattering amongst themselves or slipping out to the bar. Nevertheless, album sales during the interval were brisk; I bought a copy for myself, and they were flying off the shelf at the rate of two or three per minute.

(3) ...whereas my warmest applause was reserved for their cover of The Associates' Club Country, played in memory of the late Billy Mackenzie, who would have been fifty this year.

(4) ...as those of us on the front row could clearly see, if we turned around. For by a remarkable stroke of good fortune, I was approached during the interval by a nice lady (a very nice lady; she'd read my interview and everything!) who asked me whether I was on my own, as she and her husband had a spare ticket for the middle of the front row.

As my pair of perfectly decent press tickets were therefore suddenly going begging, I quickly dragged Sarah and Lord Bargain down from the vertigo-inducing second tier, and passed the tickets on. A significant result all round, which more than compensated for the earlier frustration of failing to offload the spare press ticket on any of my friends.

And let me tell you: front row seats at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall are a trip and a half. With no security staff to get in the way, you're mere inches away from the stage itself, which is roughly at chest height (if you're tall like me), and hence so close that you practically feel like you're part of the show (if you're egotistical like me). The sound quality's not so great, as you're practically behind the main speakers, but the compensations are considerable.

(That Andy Bell, he couldn't keep his eyes off me. I sense a connection.)

Labels: erasure, eveningpost, gigs, popmusic

A shorter version of this interview originally appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post. Here's a longer transcript of our conversation, which took place back on Wednesday August 29th.


I actually spoke to Vince Clarke a few months ago; it was back in April, just before your current album Light At The End Of The World was released. Speaking to you now that it’s been out for three months or so, are you pleased with the way it has been received?

It’s really hard to tell these days. I think we’ve sold about 70,000 copies worldwide, so sales-wise it has been disappointing – but when you go out and play, and people know all the words to the new songs, even in America, you think: oh, this is really amazing. So I think people are just sharing their music. They don’t buy anything much anymore, unless it’s blasted at them all the time, on the TV and stuff. So I’m pleased at how people know the songs, and that they’re going down well.

In 1995, when we had the Erasure album out, and Fingers And Thumbs was released as a single, we went on stage and nobody knew it. But this time, they’ve heard them.

Well, you do have a very dedicated fanbase – and extraordinarily, you haven’t had a single fail to make the UK Top Forty for over twenty years. That’s an incredible achievement. How do you keep that kind of consistency?

Vince and I still love writing songs together, and we don’t always realise what craftsmen we are. We just do it, without comparing ourselves to other people. When I listen to something like Abba’s Lay All Your Love On Me now, it still sounds really beautiful. Then I think: well, some of the stuff we’ve done sounds just as good. The vocals are really tight, the music’s clear and sharp, and you can hear all the words.

It’s the same on stage, where things are note-perfect. We may not have the same exposure, but it’s high quality material.

I was talking to Vince about your particular creative process, and it was interesting that you’re always together in the same room when you write, despite living on separate continents.

You have to be, really. We did one experiment before Light At The End Of The World, where Vince sent me ten dance tracks, of music that was inspired by Electric Blue [Andy’s 2005 solo album]. I tried to think of some tunes, but he wants the whole song all at once – whereas when we’re separate, I just get up on a vibe. But when we’re together, then he can say: right, we’ll use this part and that part, and we can put them together. Otherwise, I’ll just sing a lot of rhythm parts strung together, which is mostly what dance music is these days.

Everything you do is clearly song-driven, even if there are dance undercurrents…

I think it’s kind of old-fashioned now. It’s quite hard; you don’t hear too much of it in the charts anymore. Even stuff that’s quite popular, like Mika and stuff; it just sounds like an advert or something.

So in a sense, you’re preserving the art of songwriting when so much else is groove-based. But when you started out, you were an electronic duo at a time when it was a very progressive, futuristic thing to do. You’ve very much stuck to that template, but do you ever worry that you might turn into the Status Quo of electro-pop?

Well, probably! [Laughter] I don’t really mind. I’ve always tried not to concern myself with those fashion things: whether you’re in or you’re out. I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider anyway, along with Vince; not really into designer labels, and what’s the latest really hot thing that you have to wear, and gadgets, and things like that.

Well, nothing dates more quickly than the fashionable…

Yeah, and I think it’s the same with music as well. You can date quite quickly; within three years or so. Sometimes, I must admit, I can get a bit bored with the sounds that Vince uses, and I do tell him, but he just sticks to his guns. I sometimes think we could make it more up to date – but in the long run, I think he’s making the wisest choice. He’s keeping his sound pure, and it’s recognisable as him, so he’s being the designer, if you know what I mean.


You both talk about ploughing your own furrow, and not taking account of prevalent trends, but do you feel any particular kinship with any other current acts?

I’d say definitely with the Scissor Sisters. They’ve done it the opposite way round; they’ve come out of America and have done it in the UK, whereas we came out in the UK and did it in America. I think they’re really brave, being “out” in America, where it’s still really hard. Even for us, it’s still hard.

I was wondering whether the experience of being on the True Colors package tour in the States had brought you together with people you might consider to be your fellow travellers…

Oh, it was lovely. I couldn’t believe that we were together with Deborah Harry. She’s such a wise lady. I was asking her all of these questions about what it was like, being in the limelight and being the most photographed person, and she said: well, it’s the same for you. She was so gracious; she bought me a T-shirt that had “Rock Royalty” written on it. I couldn’t believe it, because I was such a huge, huge Blondie fan. And she’s done all this solo material, but I said: that’s fine, you do what you like, and I think some of your solo songs are really good anyway.

Then also, Cyndi Lauper turned out be a huge fan of ours! I really hadn’t taken much notice of her career, although I knew her songs – but now that I’ve listened to her songs after being on tour with her, she’s an incredible singer, and I’m going: wow, her voice is amazing.

I think I’ve always undervalued her as well. She was a bit uncool when she started, and I kind of wrote her off.

Yeah, but when she sings She Bop, and she goes up and down that trill like Lene Lovich…

I heard there was an amazing version of She Bop. I was talking to The Gossip, who were also on that tour, and they said that was one of their highlights. But they said they felt kind of stuck on the edge of things a bit, being a younger band but playing to an older audience.

Oh, they did really well; their reception was fantastic.

When I spoke to Vince, I was asking him about what music he was listening to, and he said that basically, as the father of a young child, the music he hears the most is The Wiggles. So I wondered whether this has any bearing on the rumour that your next project might be a concept album of nursery rhymes…?

We’re kind of halfway through doing that. We’ve started it already, and now Vince wants to turn it into an original Gothic story, rather than just using old nursery rhymes. Which sounds a bit complicated, inventing these people from the past, like the old woman who lived in a shoe, her story. We will finish it, but we are going to have a couple of years’ break, after the tour has finished. We’ll probably do some other things outside of Erasure, but that one is still in the pipeline.

Vince and yourself are clearly different but complementary personalities. I asked Vince what was the last time that he went out and shook his hips in a public place; he reckoned it was about 1979. What about yourself? Do you still get out there, and go out clubbing and stuff?

Not so much, really. When you’ve been doing a gig, you don’t feel like shaking it all around. If I’m DJ-ing, then that’s still a bit like work, but I really enjoy it.

I wasn’t aware you did DJ-ing…

Only a little bit. We did one in Atlantic City; Perez Hilton was there, and the guy from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, so it was fun. Our singers dance, and some of the crew dance, and things like that. I suppose that going out-wise, I go down to the south coast quite a lot. I just go out to the pubs around Hastings. It’s enough, really.

You’ve been touring the US, and you’ve just taken a month’s break before commencing the UK tour next week. What have you done during the break?

Well, as I say, I’ve been down on the south coast. I have my boyfriend there on the market stall. I’m a housewife when I get home. Which I really like! [Laughter]

He has a market stall, does he?

Yeah, he sells bread.


Do you find there’s a difference between your US and your UK audiences? I’d imagine that in the US, it’s more of a cult gay thing, whereas in the UK it’s more mainstream.

It’s quite gay, but in the UK it’s not that huge an amount of people. I’d say it was probably about 30%. There’s quite a few young people, who have either heard us themselves or through their parents, and quite a few oldies as well, so it’s a good mixture.

You’re starting the UK tour in Oxford on Monday, and then you’re coming to us in Nottingham for the second night. What can we expect from the tour? I’m assuming costumes…

Well, it’s quite pared down. It looks quite sharp and slick, as you’d imagine an electro band to look like around twenty years ago. Like the Human League when they started. We’ve got all the DVD monitors behind us, playing mashed up versions of the videos. Plenty of dance routines, and the most glamorous backing singers that you’ve ever seen.

In terms of balancing old and new material, you’ve never become a nostalgia act, so I presume the new album is well represented?

That’s something I’m quite scared of, becoming a nostalgia act.

I don’t blame you…

So the mixture works really well, between old and new.

How do you approach the old material? Do you like to play it straight, or do you like doing significant revamps?

No, that will be one of our next things as well. When we do tour again, in a couple of years, we’re going to do The Remix Tour. Vince doesn’t really listen to them, so I’ll choose the ones I think are really good, and do some interpretations of those.

The photos which accompany this article were taken at San Diego Pride 2007 by shindohd, and have been reproduced under a Creative Commons non-commercial attribution license.

Labels: erasure, eveningpost, interviews, popmusic

A shorter version of this interview originally appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post. Here's a longer transcript of our conversation, which took place back in April.


Speaking from his Stateside home in Portland, Maine, Vince Clarke talked about Erasure’s new album, their forthcoming tour plans, and the reasons for their longevity.

The title of the album – Light at the End of the World – sounds both apocalyptic and optimistic. What were you conveying with that?

“I think it’s optimism. Most of the tracks are upbeat, and that’s the general vibe of how we wanted the record to sound.”

Did you have a pre-planned intention for the album, or did its themes naturally emerge during the recording?

“The themes just naturally happened. We wrote the songs initially in Portland, Maine. Andy Bell came over to the US for a while, and we demoed the songs on guitar. Then we rented a house in town and built a studio. Usually I’ll go to the UK, but because I’ve got a little baby and everything, we decided to have the producer come over here. As the producer and I worked on the tracks, Andy would start formulating the lyrics, and it just built that way.”

Does the songwriting process always involve the two of you working physically together in room, or are things ever arranged remotely?

“We always have to start the song together. We’ll sometimes do the production apart, and he’ll sing the lyrics in a separate studio. But this time round, we did the whole thing together. We wrote the songs together, and we were in the studio at the same time while the music was being produced. He would sing vocals in the evening, and we’d do it that way.”

Andy’s lyrics can sometimes be enigmatic, but you generally get the feeling that they’re based on real events in his personal life. Do you ever ask him for further clarification, or are you happy to let the enigma stand?

“I usually get what he’s saying anyway. On this record in particular, his lyrics were much more personal. He and I share everything that’s going on in our lives anyway, so I can tune into what he’s trying to say.”

This feels like your most uptempo set in a long time – especially the opening three tracks, which are all highly danceable. It reminds me of the start of the last Madonna album, as a real statement of intent. I heard that you were suffering from a “mid-tempo crisis”...

“That’s definitely true. As we got older and older, our songs got slower and slower. So we made a concerted effort to write more dancey tunes this time.”

But you’re a married family man now. When was the last time you went out and shook your hips in a club?

(Laughter) “Ooh, I can’t remember! 1979, I think! Andy still goes to clubs and stuff, but those days are over for me.”

What about remixes? Are you going to be looking for dance remixers to get involved, maybe with [the current single] Sunday Girl?

“Yeah, we definitely want to get some good remixes done. We have a guy that looks after us in the States, and he’s really interesting in getting a kind of US angle on them. So we’re looking at various people from over here to maybe contribute.”

You’ve always done well in the Billboard dance charts, so I guess some of the tracks might be showing up there.

“Yeah, hopefully.”

You’ve been together as a working partnership for 22 years, which is roughly half your lives, and longer than many marriages. What is it that keeps you together, and have there been any moments when a divorce has looked imminent?

“We don’t clash at all. We haven’t argued in 22 years. Andy’s a really easy-going guy, and I think his easy-going nature has rubbed off on me as well.”

“The other secret is that we don’t get precious about our own ideas. If he comes to me with a lyric and I say “Well, I don’t know”, or if I come to him with a tune and he’s not 100% behind it, then the song just gets dropped, and we move on. If we’re not both fully committed to the tune, then inevitably it won’t sound very good.”

Yourselves and the Pet Shop Boys – and arguably Depeche Mode, funnily enough – are the last of the Eighties synth-pop acts who are still regularly releasing new material. What is it that has enabled you to remain viable for so long, while most of your contemporaries have fallen by the wayside?

“We’ve had a fantastic fanbase: people who have stayed with us throughout our existence. We did a lot of touring early on, and people have just stuck with us.”

“We also have a very loyal record company. The guy that runs the company [Daniel Miller of Mute Records] is a fan. I don’t think we would have survived if we had been signed to a major label.”

Even though they have major label backing now, Mute Records still retains the identity of a quirky, leftfield, arty, independent label – and I wondered whether a large part of your longevity was down to that support. If you have an album which maybe doesn’t do as well as the previous ones, they’re cool with it.

“Absolutely – and Mute really is a one man operation, as well. So it’s not like we have to build up a relationship with a new A&R person every time we release a new record.”

Since your commercial peak in the early Nineties, you still register very consistently sales-wise. Indeed, every UK single since Sometimes has gone Top Thirty, which is quite a hell of an achievement. It means that you’ve never become a nostalgia act.

(Deadpan) “Only to ourselves.”

Because you’ve never dramatically altered your sound, it’s like you exist in a separate musical universe all of your own. Do you feel any musical kinship with other acts?

“I don’t know. You talk about nostalgia; well, I’m nostalgic for music that came from the Eighties. It’s not that we’ve set out to have a particular identity; what we’ve really tried to do is write electronic music around good songs. For us, the most important part of a record has always been the tune. I guess that gives us a particular identity.”

You’re touring the UK in the autumn, but before that you’re taking part in a summer package tour in the US called True Colors, which features quite an interesting line-up of acts. Can you explain something about the concept of the tour?

“It was an idea that was put forward by our US agent, about a year and a half ago. He wanted an event that was almost like a family day out, with lots of bands. He asked us to take part, and it just felt like an interesting thing to do. It will hopefully be playing to an audience that haven’t necessarily seen us or heard of us. It’s not just old codgers like ourselves there; there are a couple of young bands as well, so it won’t be like a geriatrics’ convention.”

Who else is on the tour with you? Rufus Wainwright sticks in my mind...

“I think he’s doing a few guest appearances. There’s Blondie, and Cyndi Lauper will be headlining. Then there’s various different bands playing on different nights – about five or six every night. Everybody plays a 45 minute set, and it will be larger venues than we usually play.”

With Blondie being on the tour, you could wheel out your cover version of Rapture, for comparative purposes...

“Well, she’d be chuffed about that. Not!” (Laughter)

Any thoughts, at this early stage, on what we might expect from your autumn tour of the UK?

“Once we’ve done the True Colors tour, we’ll be touring the US in our own right. I’m not sure what Andy is cooking up for that side of the tour, but I assume that whatever happens here is going to be transferred to the UK. I’m sure there’ll be costumes involved! (Laughter) It will be all electronic, all-singing and all-dancing, and lots of... clothes.”

Which songs do you never tire of playing on stage, and are there any old hits which you’ve quietly dropped?

“There’s lots we’ve dropped – but the song I enjoy playing the most is A Little Respect. Everyone seems to know all the lyrics. Last time we performed it, which was in London, the audience sang the whole song before we’d even started it. It was amazing; really, really moving.”

When you’re on stage, how faithful do you like to be to the original versions? Do you like messing around with old favourites?

“I change from tour to tour. Sometimes I radically change the sound, almost doing a complete remix of the track; at other times it’s very true to the album. It really depends on the day. The technology’s changing all the time as well, so that often changes the sound.”

When it comes to contemporary music, do you still follow the charts? Do you still try to keep up with everything?

“Well, no. Now I’ve got a child, the only music I listen to is The Wiggles.”

Do you ever hear other singers and feel tempted to work with them, or is it a pure monogamous loyalty to Andy?

“It is a monogamous loyalty. I do work on other stuff, though. I do bits and pieces with Martyn Ware [Heaven 17] sometimes, on various projects. Not making pop records, but making music for exhibitions and stuff. I just did some music for a cartoon here in the States. So, little bits and pieces – but not actually working with another singer and making an album, no.”

Career-wise, perhaps you’ve already done it all – but are there any musical ambitions left to achieve?

“Yes. To appear on Sesame Street. That would be brilliant, wouldn’t it?”

The accompanying photo was taken by Bifford The Youngest, and has been reproduced under a Creative Commons non-commercial attribution license.

Labels: erasure, eveningpost, interviews, popmusic