I tried hard to like this album when it came out, but I could never really warm to it. Their previous effort "Nightbird" had reignited my interest (and belief) in Erasure and the lead single "I Could Fall In Love With You" was a very promising introduction. The anticipation for this release was also heightened by Vince describing it as more dance orientated. In reality this is an album of “so-so” compositions with unremarkable execution.
The first track, "Sunday Girl" is naive and has terrible, nonsensical lyrics. Whilst the single version of "I Could Fall In Love With You" is superior to the version here, it remains a passable effort. "Sucker for Love" continues in the same vein as "Sunday Girl" with its annoying melody and disjointed backing track. In fact, all of the backing tracks on this album sound uninspired and as if Vince was just phoning in his contribution.
"Storm in a Teacup" has a very promising start but it doesn't quite realise its potential. The tracks "Fly Away" and "Golden Heart" come close to realising the "dance orientated" sound that Vince hinted at prior to the album's release, but the compositions simply aren't strong enough. One of the better songs here is "How My Eyes Adore You" which has a great melody but the transition between the different parts of the song is clunky. This song is also an example of Andy forcing his vocal in an unnatural fashion. Normally Andy's vocals soar effortlessly over Vince's bleeps and beats, but on this album the vocals seem to be fighting for room and Andy has to sing louder to force his way into the mix.
The remainder of the album is forgettable and listening to it has been a bit of a chore to be honest. As I said earlier, I tried to like this album and I listened to it many times when it came out in an effort to force my appreciation. But, realistically, if you have to force an album into your consciousness in an effort to like it, surely it has failed. 2/5
