Erasure: World Be Gone - album review

Erasure - Andy Bell and Vince Clarke - are one of those names synonymous with synth pop. Their greatest hits adorn wedding and birthday playlists the world over and they have three decades in the business behind them.

World Be Gone is suitably a reflective record, then. Gone are the storming disco vibes and the dancefloor fillers and in their place are largely ballads looking at lives lived, recent political upheavals and generally putting the world to rights.

Unfortunately, it grows a little tiresome the further you get.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with slowing things down and trying to be poignant. But 10 tracks of fairly hefty length doing so seem a bit too much. For all their talents, they don't have the wondrous songwriting talents of a Nick Cave for example to keep you hooked.

There are moments of sunshine, though. A Bitter Parting has a vibe reminiscent of Depeche Mode at their angriest. The heartbeat rhythms are ominous in the extreme and the warning-sign synths do little to ease the feeling of imminent doom.

Lousy Sum Of Nothing, too, is one of the better lyrical efforts. It juxtaposes dark verses with the kind of choral choruses Take That have earned some cash out of on recent hits.

But there are times when the lyrics really let them down. The repetition in some tracks can get tiresome.

There is also a tendency too to jump too far into the retro video game soundtrack world and that makes some of the material - such as Just A Little Love - feel dated.

Rating: 5/10

Erasure will be supporting Robbie Williams on his upcoming stadium tour which includes a date at Coventry's Ricoh Arena on Tuesday, June 13.