Non-Stop

Chronique

Distinguishing an Erasure album from one of Andy Bell’s club-oriented, synth pop solo albums is a job best left to hardcore fans, but while everyone else is cracking jokes about how they’re really one and the same, the faithful should know that Non-Stop offers a more casual encounter with their favorite singer, and one that takes place in disco heaven. Co-written and co-produced by dancefloor veteran Pascal Gabriel, the album takes none of the patience Erasure efforts sometime require, as a parade of songs heavy with hooks and packaged in proven progressive house flavors play out for their three-or-so minutes before another comes in to take its place. “Call on Me” is one of the most memorable, as Gabriel’s music brings to mind Meco and the disco era’s idea of what sounded futuristic or sci-fi, but it’s neck and neck with its campy competition “DHDQ,” which stands for the gay disco taunt “Debbie Harry Drag Queen” which Bell chants over the song’s infectious chorus. Folks who like the night life and like to boogie will find the album’s second line of songs satisfying and surprisingly strong, and whole affair closes with “Honey If You Love Him (That’s all That Matters)” a life-affirming gem from Bell and special guest vocalist/songwriter Perry Farrell. Don’t expect the ambition found on any given Erasure effort, just a club-worthy, Friday night-enhancing set of tunes filled with all the energy and wit Bell always brings to the table.
© David Jeffries /TiVo