ERASURE - "OH L'AMOUR" (MUTE - 13th October 2003 - POP - CDMUTE 213)
Although he could be cynical and suggest that covering other peoples' tunes on their cunningly-titled "Other People's Songs" earlier this year was a way of breaking back into the charts without breaking sweat, this reviewer's still puzzled by ERASURE taking on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill." Like, why? How can the likes of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell truly have been influenced by early, prog-gy Gabriel? A-ha, hang on: I've got it at last - it's that sunflower outfit he used to sport with Genesis, isn't it, Andy?
That's that one sorted then, but it's difficult to come to any conclusion other than - again - a cynical one about Erasure's new compilation, the brashly-titled "Hits!" other than that it's perfectly timed for Christmas and - aside from a bit of spurious remixing - again allows Andy and Vince maximum exposure for minimal fresh input.
With that rant discarded, mind, "Oh L'Amour" - even in this actually-not-very-different 'August' mix, remains a solidly decent pop single and will probably chart effortlessly a second time around. Admittedly it's got some vibrantly strummed acoustic guitar propping up the usual motorik chart beats and Vince's choice segments of electro melody, but the no-nonsense chorus ensures it cruises to the tape efficiently and it does stick in your mind, even against your better instincts.
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CD1 is probably the most interesting of the CD/DVD versions you can invest in, as - instead of the usual plethora of useless remixes, you get two half-decent new tracks, the best of which ("Love Me All Night Long") is more than catchy enough to do the headlining business itself and does feature a convincingly soulful vocal from Bell. "Nothing Lasts Forever," on the other hand, is pretty twee, but hell: you can't have everything, can you?
So yeah, you could do worse than re-visit "Oh L'Amour," even though I surprise myself typing that, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to their forthcoming compilation in at least a minor league way, as Clarke's tunes have always been classy enough even allowing for Bell's puppet prancing. Watch this space for the album review and turn on the radio to be saturated with this (again) in the meantime.
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