If there was something on your mind you should have said, and did you think I'd lose control...

This is the record Erasure should have made this year. Electric Blue was issued the same year as Andy Bell's parent band, Erasure's Nightbird, yet sounds more true-to-form that the group effort (though that album definitely has its good moments). I'd really have thought Bell would use the advantage of making a solo album to explore different musical settings for his voice, but instead he makes Electric Blue a party album from the get go, with the whirling "Caught In A Spin" and first single "Crazy", with production from production team Manhattan Clique matching Vince Clarke bleep for bleep. "Love Oneself" puts Bell and Propaganda siren Claudia Brucken in an almost Kylie-esque electro-disc setting, something I could have expected from Andy but not from goth-gods like Propaganda's Brucken. Next comes "I Thought It Was You", with Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears paying homage to possibly one of his inspirations, with a funky, trippy number. The title track is an electro-clash club-friendly track, which segues into the groovy "Jealous", which is a good change of pace for the middle of the album, especially with the faux-string breaks. "Shaking My Soul" is almost girl-group-like, though with a modern sheen, and "Runaway" continues the assertive groove "Jealous" started. Second single "Never Fall In Love Again" is definitely the highlight of the album, with a classic Bell heartbreak lyric over a nostaglic Erasure-ish track. Claudia Brucken comes back for the fun song "Delicious", before Andy slows down the pace a little for the ballad "Fantasy". But to close the album, he goes right back into dancefloor madness with "See The Lights Go Out" and the puts you to bed with the sweet final cut "The Rest Of Our Lives". As much as Manhattan Clique not stray far from the Erasure mold, the production on this album is earthier than the band's recent efforts, which possibly heralded the bands recent acoustic album, Union Street. And with Bell's recent "coming-out" with his HIV-status, Electric Blue is nothing but positive and uplifting, in fact the most fun and joyful album of his career. And an album that stands fine up against anything his band has done (and that's saying a lot). It still isn't Erasure without Vince Clarke (though he did remix a version of "Crazy") but this definitely shows he's no svengali to Bell's talent.

Grade:A-
Best Cuts: "Caught In A Spin", "Crazy", "Love Oneself", "Electric Blue", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Fantasy", "See The Lights Go Out"

Electric Blue hit #12 Electronic Albums, and #119 in the UK album chart.
"Crazy" hit #3 Dance Club Play, and #35 in the UK.

You can buy the album Electric Blue at sites like here and here.

You can listen to the track "Love Oneself" by clicking here to download (rightclick to bring up in a new window).

And here's the video for his single "Crazy" (very 80's-like I must say)...