Erasure-”Other People’s Songs

Cover albums are always tricky -“ and collections of a band’s favourite songs can be pretty self-indulgent. For Other People’s Songs, Erasure’s Andy Bell and Vince Jones have taken a look in their old record collections for inspiration, with patchy results. Sure, some of the things they’ve dragged out are radio-friendly gems, like their version of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, a catchy single that has given the Erasure boys their first UK chart-buster in years. But others are pretty hideous, like the cover of Elvis’s classic ballad Can’t Help Falling In Love -“ pure, unadulterated crap. Unlike Erasure’s 1992 Abbaesque tribute, this one just isn’t much fun, it’s a bit crappy earnest and the home-organ-style synth just doesn’t work with some of these songs. The track that works best is probably the closest thing to an Erasure original, and one which uses computer-generated lead vocals -“ Video Killed The Radio Star. In truth, the most interesting thing about Other People’s Songs is the song choices -“ not only are there two Righteous Brothers crumblers but two Buddy Hollys as well. And whoever would have picked Andy Bell as a Phil Spector freak?