Erasure - Sacred

Buy "Sacred" on Erasure's The Violet Flame album here (Lexer Music)

With the continued onslaught of the digital age (so old now surely something new will come along soon) people are able to get their music much faster and more readily than ever before. Teaser singles, soundcloud streams, youtube lyric videos, free tracks or remixes - the choices are almost endless. It's a singles dominated era (only two albums sold more than a million copies in 2014 in the USA) and what makes me sad about this is how a generation are missing out on the wonder of discovering an album. I know times change but back in my day it used to be that you got four-five singles from each album (with said album being released after the first or second track). Half the joy then was debating which songs you thought deserved to become singles. Sometimes it was unanimous (everyone agrees Deeper Shade of Blue was one of Steps finer moments), sometimes I was a lone voice in the crowd (I'm still mystified as to why Whitney never released Miracle as a single - or more recently Kylie with Kiss Me Once). One thing that is not up for debate, however, is how obvious it was that once everyone had lit up The Violet Flame there was a collective rush of love for Erasure to release Sacred as a single. I'm not saying that Elevation and Reason didn't deserve to be singles because they absolutely did. Blindin' tracks both of them. But there's something about Sacred that showcases the duo at new creative heights 30 years into their career. Even the lovely chap who runs the Erasure Info newsletter called this week's announcement of Sacred as single 3 possibly the worst kept secret in popdom. It is what may possibly be Erasure's most joyous, commercial song single in a while. It feels like it should be spearheaded for a residency in the top 5 any time now - showing the young whippersnappers how it's done. It starts off as a restrained ballad, highlighting the intimate emotions shared in the track before it fully blossoms into a propulsive, groovetastic anthem that can't and shouldn't be contained. Punchy rave-infused synth effects accompany a galloping beat that is adorned by a cavalcade of sounds that are more ecstatic and gleeful than a month full of Christmasses. Combine this with the lyrics "never feel that you're alone/hold on tight and I'll be strong" and that house-inflected middle 8 piano and it's entirely a winner on every single level. Quite quite marvelous - I'm practically giddy with anticipation for the remixes :) Now go, buy, live, repeat and love. It is what Vince and Andy would want you to do.

Top 25 songs of the week:

25 ~ Erasure, Reason
24 ~ McBusted, Air Guitar
23 ~ Jason Mraz, So Hard To Say Goodbye
22 ~ Auryn, Pillow Talk
21 ~ Bright Light Bright Light, Everything I Ever Wanted
20 ~ Take That, These Days
19 ~ Kylie ft Enrique, Beautiful
18 ~ Take That, Let In The Sun
17 ~ Erasure, Sacred
16 ~ Ola, This Could Be Paradise
15 ~ Olly Murs, Wrapped Up
14 ~ Christopher, CPH Girls
13 ~ McBusted, Get Over It
12 ~ Walk The Moon, Shut Up And Dance
11 ~ Taylor Swift, Out Of The Woods
10 ~ MAX, Darling
09 ~ Maroon 5, Sugar
08 ~ One Direction, Night Changes
07 ~ Gravitonas, Castles In The Air
06 ~ The Overtones, Something Good
05 ~ Auryn, Last Song
04 ~ Madonna, Living For Love
03 ~ Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk
02 ~ Taylor Swift, Blank Space
01 ~ Olly Murs ft Demi Lovato, Up (2 weeks)