Erasure-Erasure

Now here's an odd little entry in the Erasure Discography. Six studio albums into their career they decide to release a self-titled album that is almost completely different than everything they had done up to that point.

The first thing you notice about this album is that the tracks are long. The shortest song on the album (not counting the 3 minute intro) is five and a half minutes long. There's even a song that breaks the ten minute mark. This ain't your grampappy's Erasure. Also, your grampappy listens to Erasure?

Erasure's songs are lengthy because they take a meandering ambient approach. Songs blend into each other and melodies fade in an out awash in a sea of humming and whirring ambient synth noise. It's like Erasure went Eno on us. The songs themselves are lovely. Practically every one of them is a heartfelt love song. Melodies to songs like "Sono Luminus" and "Rock Me Gently" are simply beautiful. It's just that it might take a full three and a half minutes into the song for the melody to appear. This is, without question, Erasure's most experimental album.

When Erasure first came out, my friends and I found each other asking, "So how do you like the new Erasure album?" (once again, I lived in a strange world. Also, none of us are gay. Just thought I'd throw that in there) and the answer was always, "It's interesting." I think we all secretly wished the songs were at least 2 minutes shorter and that they got to the point. At least that's how I felt when I was in high school. Now that I'm double the age I was when this album debuted, I feel differently. I enjoy Erasure's meandering approach. It's a great album to put on while you're doing something else because it'll just strike you multiple times with sheer beauty that your brain isn't expecting because it's doing something else. I know that sounds like a knock on this album, but it really isn't.