Hallowe'en 2015: Erasure - Dead Of The Night / Loving Man

Buy Dead Of The Night on The Violet Flame here (Amazon UK)
Pre-order Always: 30 Years of Erasure here (Lexer Music)
View Loving Man (Knocking Ghost Remix) here (YouTube)

As we are less than a week away from the release of Always, a collection of songs celebrating 30 years of Erasure, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to dip into their last two albums (The Violet Flame, Snowglobe) and demonstrate just why their music is both endearing and enduring. Promotion for both those albums may have finished but I have a sneaky suspicion that fans are still reveling in the music that's contained within the respective projects. As Hallowe'en is just around the corner, it's the perfect time to rediscover two tracks that are the perfect soundtrack to your ghoulish festivities. From The Violet Flame we have the opening track Dead Of The Night. As you can see above, it's been presented with a witches brew of images from classic horror movies to add to it's dark, enchanting charms. The music itself is a dark disco opus that brings a relentless invasion of the senses in the best possible way. Dominant beats combined with studio 54 finger clicking grooves set an ominous backdrop for Andy to propel the melody forward with his distinctive, impassioned vocal. It's a stirring and spellbinding song that works brilliantly in the new spooky visual setting it's been given. And let's face it - that chorus is still one of the most spinetingling thrills you'll experience all the live long year, not just the night of trick and treats...

Meanwhile over on Snowglobe (honestly, one of the most all year round Christmas albums you'll ever find - FACT), the knocking man remix of Loving Man is also a frightful delight come October 31st. In it's original version it is a disco, electro-pop ode to enduring love & working hard at that to make sure love makes you a better person (and surely the thought of NEVER finding that is one of the most terrifying scares of all). The keyboard riff bounces around providing a buoyant accompaniment to what feels like a sincere & earnest vocal from the man himself - a charming piece of work. Nothing too Hallowe'en about that you may think yet the remix seeks out new nuance in the lyrics and underscoring Andy's flawless vocal delivery with impish perfection - and the "love is forever" refrain conjures up images of two ghosts in love haunting their old romantic hotspots for now and all eternity. Glorious stuff. Now check back here on Sat (24th) for my 20th anniversary overview of my favourite Erasure album ever...

Top 25 songs of the week:

25 ~ Leona Lewis, I Am
24 ~ Mika, Good Guys
23 ~ Todd Carey, OMG
22 ~ Gary Barlow, Something About This Night
21 ~ Olly Murs, Kiss Me (NE)
20 ~ Christopher, Tulips
19 ~ MKTO, Bad Girls
18 ~ MKTO, Afraid Of The Dark
17 ~ Will Young, Joy
16 ~ Maroon 5, Feelings
15 ~ Jukebox The Ghost, The Great Unknown
14 ~ Jukebox The Ghost, Postcards
13 ~ Madonna, Joan of Arc
12 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Should've Gone Home
11 ~ Harriet, Love Will Burn
10 ~ Janet Jackson, Burn It Up
09 ~ Mika, Staring At The Sun
08 ~ MAX (ft Jared Evan), Ms. Anonymous
07 ~ Nate Ruess, A Great Big Storm
06 ~ Brandon Flowers, Still Want You
05 ~ Walk The Moon, Work This Body
04 ~ Shayne Ward, Moving Target
03 ~ Sara Bareilles, She Used To Be Mine
02 ~ Little Mix, Love Me Like You
01 ~ Big Black Delta ft Debbie Gibson, RCVR (3 weeks)