'Sure thing

to say that Erasure are not excitable is like saying that David Batty is not really in the same class as Maradona. Synth wizard Vince Clarke has a reputation for being quiet and reserved, barely blinking an eyelid even when their entire stage set was levelled amid an earthquake in Tokyo in 1990. Singer Andy Bell is even more reticent, only occasionally exercising his voice, as if saving it for profound insights that just never quite materialise.

To be honest, I can't help feeling that the duo could do with having a six-pack of Duracell stuffed into their vocal chords. Suffice to say that the word animated does not quite spring to mind. So, you're about to bring out another album, then, entitled Cowboy. What's it like?

"It was written here in Dublin, mostly," ventures Andy. "It's our tenth album, and we've gone all the way round in a circle with it."

"We're regressing, in fact," deadpans Vince. "We're not getting any more complicated. We're getting better, I think, because we are regressing."

The last album, Erasure, was more experimental than their previous work, entering into the field of ambience. Does this mean that there are no more seven-minute sweeping epics?

"We've gone completely the opposite," says Vince. "It's not that we particularly plan any direction with any album. You write the songs and it turns out how it turns out. But we were conscious that we wanted to make a real poppy album."

"Ultrapop," says Andy, helpfully, before Vince explains further in his own oblique way, "Liechtenstein pop," he says, "as opposed to Britpop."

Well, Vince, I'm glad you shared that with us. With so much chart space taken up by the aforementioned Britpop and all things Beatles-ish, is there still room for electronic music?

"I don't necessarily think that there is room, but it doesn't really matter to us," he says. "You don't make records to order."

Vince Clarke was one of the innovators of electronic music. A former member of both Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Vince was there in the heady days of the early '80s when The Human League, OMD and his old muckers Depeche Mode were bringing the first synthesised blips and bleeps to the masses. I wonder how he feels when he looks back on that era now.

"I feel very reminiscent about that period of time," he says, in a rare burst of energy, "because I think it was the most original music ever. When punk came out, it was just a degradation of rock music in a different format. But when people made pop music with electronic instruments, it was completely new. There was nothing to compare it with. People were experimenting with electronic music well before the '80s but not in a pop form. Really, I don't think there has been anything like it since and I don't think there will be again."

Vince feels that not even Erasure's own music can sound as fresh and original as it did in the early '80s. "It can't be because it won't be a surprise, will it? It was a surprise then, but it can't be a surprise any more. But it will come around again," he predicts. "Electronic music has opened up the whole field of sounds, and now you have the freedom to use these weird and funny sounds in any type of music. That period was the key to it, and I feel very nostalgic about it."

So, that being the case, one wonders how long Erasure can continue releasing albums and singles in the style made famous during those earlier days.

"I think we're going to call the next album Relentless or More Of The Same," jokes Andy.

"Nah, The Pet Shop Boys did that already," Vince points out, before getting serious again. "Unfortunately for people like yourself, we can just go on forever. Talking to journalists on this promotional trip, we're tired of doing interviews but it's obvious they're so tired of us, asking us when we're going to split up. That almost makes you feel like 'Sorry, you're stuck with us forever'."

Obviously, though, they're still really happy with what they're doling?

"The idea of going on forever really appeals to me," laughs Vince. "It's not that we're a sad old band, I think. I feel that what we do is still pretty good. We're not trying to recapture anything. We don't want to be like we were five years ago. I think we are quite honest about what we do, so therefore the world is condemned to us forever."

"People never usually talk like that," interrupts Andy, who sounds a little pissed off at the way this interview is going. "They talk about The Beatles being prolific and having loads of songs out. If we were like Oasis they'd be asking themselves 'How do they manage it?'. But because it's us, it's like, 'Oh God, not another Erasure album'." n

* However, there is, indeed, a new Erasure album. Cowboy comes out at the end of March and Erasure are embarking on a world tour later this year.