Loveboat

Erasure were one of those bands who had a pedigree, who arrived, who released a bundle of tunes (some quite good), and then disappeared from the face of the earth. And nobody noticed.

Loveboat is a strange vessel, beginning with three songs that are among the worst pieces of music I have ever heard. I almost turned it off at this point. That would have been a mistake.

‘Perchance To Dream’ is vintage Erasure, groovy electro-soul with a stunning performance from La Bell and (incredibly) a beautifully romantic lyric. And there’s more. ‘Alien’ is a sweeping soundscape that features a deliciously catchy chorus, “Tuning low like a radio, whispering goodbye”.

‘Mad As We Are’ sounds like what would happen if David Bowie worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber, (it works brilliantly) while ‘Here In My Heart’, ‘Catch 22’ and ‘Surreal’ return the Erasure we know and love to their rightful place (in this case the lower reaches of the UK singles chart).

There are some beautiful tunes here from a band that I’ve always thought were a bit inconsequential. But, Jesus, those first few songs… Flood, what were you thinking?