Erasure

World Be Gone MUTE. CD/DL/LP

Resurgent synth-pop veterans expertly skewer the personal and the political. They’ve been in the business for over 30 years, yet Erasure’s Vince Clarke and Andy Bell still have plenty of gas left in the tank, it seems. Not only are they touring Europe’s stadiums with Robbie Williams this summer, but their 17th studio album sees the duo as politically charged as they were in their late-’80s heyday. Vocalist Bell has always been unabashed in laying his heart on the line in song Ð this time, though, the focus is outward as much as it is inward, as titles such as Be Careful What You Wish For!, Oh What A World and A Bitter Parting clearly suggest. Elsewhere, the socially conscious message is rammed home by the hymnal, pleading tones of Lousy Sum Of Nothing (Òwhat do you feel now the world has lost its loving?Ó) This is a triumph of achingly beautiful pop protest music.