One of my favorite albums of 2011 is the debut longplayer from Hurts. It's a brace of solid pop songs in the late 20th century style (ie. thoughtful lyrics, muscular production with electronic flourishes). Theo Hutchcraft delivers every track with a range of emotion and a strong, immediately identifiable vocal.
Very much in the tradition of British pop in the vein of Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, et al. Not confined to being a studio concoction, they managed to fit in quite a lot of touring in order to spread the Hurts mission statement.
And now, Hurts are ready to launch version 2.0 with the release of "Exile", their sophomore effort. "The Road", the first taste from the elpee, was just delivered to the interwebs. It's a moody, thundering, widescreen track which, perhaps, hints at a darker sound for the duo.
"Exile" will hit the "shops" in March.
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Hi Vinny,
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big fan of Hurts and their debut album last year was one ofmy favorite albums of 2011. This is definitely a much darker sound forthe duo but I love it and I cannot wait for their new album next year.
Thank you for this post.
Best way to describe The Road is HARD. Pop rarely succeeds when it goes hard - DM have had both success and failure there - but there is a lot of power in The Road.
ReplyDeleteHow very "Manhattan Skyline" of them! But more NIN instead of "White Album." Hmmmmmm. Dunno. Dash-it-all! I've yet to purchase the first album and here I am contemplating writing them off! Face it. When you're The Post Punk Monk, you need all of the contemporary new bands you can get. Lest ye calcify completely.
ReplyDeleteI like them too. These new songs sound a bit like Ultravox, too.
ReplyDeleteRegards from Spain