Erasure - Cowboy (Mute) Since the start of this decade synthesiser music, or synth-pop if one believes in pigeonholing music, has been slagged off as a product that has already passed its sell-by date, something that belongs to the so-called faceless, gutless 1980s.
Nevertheless, some groups survived the backlash, with Erasure proving the most commercially viable group of them all. While other synthesiser groups, such as Pet Shop Boys or Depeche Mode, look for twists and embellishments to their genre, Erasure have remained loyal to their original cause - and Cowboy, their eighth studio album, actually sounds more or less the same as their first.
That can only mean this album offers nothing new or exciting - the moody electronic atmospherics that dominated their last outing in 1994 continues its reign, albeit with even less authority and power.
The lushness of In My Arms and Treasure is nice, but they cannot match previous anthems such as Ship of Fools or You Surround Me ; the up-tempo Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me also pales in comparison with their previous powerful tunes such as the 80s' Drama and Stop.
As everybody familiar with Erasure and frontman Andy Bell knows, the group is at its most powerful when it is at its most camp - witness the spectacle of their Abba-esque fixation years ago. So it is ironic the album finds its climax at the end with a cover of Blondie's Rapture, a bonus track for the Hong Kong release of the disc.
Songwriter Vince Clarke's creative juices seem to have dried up - and that is a sad thing to realise.
