Andy Bell is a bit like that ex-boyfriend who insists on aging gracefully, despite all your spell-casting. Even if you stopped publicly admitting you like Erasure back in the late '80s, you have to grudgingly acknowledge the old boy can still make a great record when he puts his mind to it. Case in point: Non-Stop (streaming now!), his second solo album, due in stores June 8. Through gritted teeth, we must give Bell kudos for the following:
1. The album was co-written and produced with Pascal Gabriel, the dude responsible for the 1988 acid house classic "Theme from S'Express." Since then, Gabriel has worked with a bevy of electro-pop divas -- including Kylie, Miss Kittin, Little Boots, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Goldfrapp -- which makes him an ideal match for Andy. There's nary a rotten tune among these ten tracks, which gleefully romp down that fine line between retro and contemporary.
2. A complete absence of maudlin ballads. The one down-tempo selection, "Slow Release," is actually pretty sexy.
3. Bell refers to himself as "slightly damaged goods" on the throbbing "Subject/Object." Two points for modesty.
4. A very catchy ditty called "Debbie Harry Drag Queen."
5. Having shared the vocal booth during his career with such equally idiosyncratic vocalists as k.d. lang, Jake Shears, Lene Lovich, and former Propaganda singer Claudia Brücken (our personal favorite), "Non-Stop" finds Andy squaring off with his oddest collaborator yet: Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction. Apparently Perry is a big fan of Andy's voice, and wrote the ecstatic closer "Honey If You Love Him (That's All That Matters)" specifically for the Erasure frontman. The weirdest thing about this tune? It's hard to tell who's who; their voices sound eerily similar at times.
6. While we're not bonkers for the first single, "Call On Me," we applaud the fact that the accompanying video (after the jump) appears to have been filmed in an abandoned bathhouse as the 46 year-old singer was on his way home from a White Party. Very age-appropriate.
