ERASURE ///
INTERVIEW CAMERON COOK ///
PHOTOGRAPHY KRISTIN BURNS ///
Erasure has been through a lot in the last couple of months. This year has seen the pop maestros _ singer Andy Bell and instrumentalist Vince Clarke _ release their first album of original material in more than four years. Nightbird is a stunning blend of Erasure's signature electro beats and a more laid-back, mellow aesthetic, reminiscent of the band's classic 1994 album, I Say I Say I Say. As if that weren't enough, the boys staged a staggering world tour, dubbed The Erasure Show, to coincide with the album and kicked off the American leg with ten nights at Irving Plaza in New York, all of which sold out almost immediately. I only attended opening night (I'm sure quite a percentage of rabid fans bought tickets to most-if not all--nights available), but witnessing the sea of gyrating bodies swimming in sweat, glitter and feathers definitely made my dreary existence of work-induced stress and caffeine addiction worthwhile. They pulled out all the stops, from the synchronized dancing of "Stop!" to the high-on-life gospel of "Chains of Love" to the soul-bearing, foot-shuffling, gushy climax of "Oh, L'Amour" (where the audience received red cut-out hearts). The highlight of the evening came with the subtle performance of "I Bet You're Mad at Me," the heartbreaking closer of Nightbird, with a costume change apparently requiring nothing but a gold lam?© jacket and, um, blue sequined knickers. That's one of the wondrous mysteries of the 'sure: pulling off the most flamboyant extravagances, all in the name of perfect dance-pop.
I could only express an over-enthusiastic mixture of reverence and awe as I jabbered down the phone to an eloquent and receptive-yet slightly stuffy--Mr. Andy Bell.
Congratulations on selling out 10 nights at Irving Plaza. That's unheard of! How does it feel to still have such loyal fans?
It's great, really. I mean, that's all I can say! It was quite unexpected. I don't know if it's because people hadn't seen us for a while, or they really missed us, or what it was. It was really great.
There's so much talk of the '80s, but most of the new acts find inspiration in the more sleazy rock 'n' roll bands of that era. You guys, along with bands like the Pet Shop Boys, made these perfect pop records, and there aren't really any bands that sound like you right now.
I don't know, I think it's probably because our writing's quite unique, me and Vince. Maybe it's quite hard to write songs like that. They're always very up and quite poppy and stuff.
It's still kind of weird though: I mean you were-and are-extremely popular.
It depends on how individual you are. You know, the Cure are still going, and they were around ahead of us. Most of those bands, like R.E.M. We never really made it like huge, huge, big-time. I think [with bands like Erasure] people are more protective of you, and you feel like you're kind of locked away, their secret.
That seems true, with the encounters I've had with Erasure fans. I mean, I'm a fan, but I'm younger. I hadn't been able to see you on tour in the past, and this was my first opportunity to meet, like, the really hardcore fans. It was quite an experience.
Good.
One of this tour's surprises is that you really play all the hits. Nightbird is kind of mellow, so I was expecting a more laid-back set.
That's another thing. People have heard all these songs around in clubs and things like that, maybe heard them on the radio. So they know the songs, but they don't necessarily know that they're our songs-or that we did them in the first place. I think it's quite a good surprise for people. Yeah, it was weird, I met this one Erasure fan who really preferred the new material to the old stuff, which is really rare.
Do you think the newer albums have garnered younger fans?
It's a bit of a mixture, really. We have our old fans, but it's always really pleasant for us when we get down to the gig and there are quite a few young ones in the front.
Let's talk about the solo album. What's the story behind it? What is it going to be like making a record without Vince?
I met these two guys _ well, they supported us on the last tour. They're DJs, and they do loads of remixes for all kinds of people. They're quite electronic-y, but very pop, but really dance _ dance-pop. They sent some music tracks over for me before last Christmas, and I really liked them and just started writing with them, all the melodies and words and stuff. It was just going so well, we just sort of carried on, and now we have 20 songs. It's very pop. I think it's what Gwen Stefani would have liked to have done. (laughs)
Speaking of Gwen Stefani, what do you think of the pop music being made right now, Erasure being sort of the elder statesmen of dance-y pop?
I'm not jaded, but _ you know, punk first came around when I was a teenager, then there was stuff like two-tone. And when you hear new bands, it's very sweet because they're really na?Øve, it's like they're doing it for the first time.
But you've heard it before.
I love the enthusiasm, though.
Those are all the questions I have. Thanks so much.
Great, now I can eat my chicken soup. ///