What we have may not be pop’s next masterpiece but there is plenty to enjoy here. Melodramatic, moody, with a heavy dose of melancholy, the debut from the mancunian duo Hurts is most definitely music for a rainy day with towering choruses that soar above thundering synths and haunting church bells. When it comes to style everything about Hurts, both musically and visually, is completely over-the-top, and better off for it. This is magnificent pop music on a huge scale.With Ultravox’s seminal classic ‘Vienna’ acting as the blueprint for most of the slower numbers, the whole album definitely draws a lot of it’s influence from 80s new romantics like Tears For Fears, Human League and the fore-mentioned Ultravox. Powerful opener ‘Silver Lining’ certainly sets the standard, but it’s the gloomy grandeur of ‘Wonderful Life’ that really hits the spot with it’s relentless whips of percussion and stunningly sublime melody.
The one weakness of the album is that some of the power-ballads start to sound very similar, with only the Kylie Minogue duet ‘Devotion’ really standing out. Some of these slower numbers also lack an emotional connection and as a listener I sometimes found it a challenge to completely invest in the excessive lyrics of desperation and longing. However these shortcoming are forgiven when ‘Better Than Love’ comes hurtling out of nowhere after the three forgettable ballads that proceed it. The album highpoint however is the glorious ‘Sunday’, which rises from the gloom with its lyrics of hope hurried along by a defiant string accompaniment.
It may be little style-over-substance in places, but when misery sounds this good it’s hard not to enjoy.
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