I never knew an Andy I didn't like. Andy Bell (above, in wings, Thor's harness, and underwear) has been, since high school, my gay idol. On second listen, Light at the End of the World gives a richer, denser sound than expected. This latest project from the authors of Nightbird, Loveboat, an other infamously titled but gorgeously produced albums fairly stuns--if its listener has the patience and humor for it. To find out whether you do, youtube video clips of Bell 1. wearing a feathered boa and riding a mechanical swan on stage as he sings "Ship of Fools" and 2. performing "Stand by your Man" in assless sequin chaps, cowboy hat, and thong. Here, her majesty goes incognito as a pirate:
You know, now that I think about it, Erasure is the only pop-synth confederacy whose exports I find uniformly agreeable. I like all of Bell and Clarke's albums. Thanks to duds like A Broken Frame and Bodega Bohemia, I can't say the same about Depeche Mode or Camouflage. And while the darker Brits and Germans prove legitimate successors to the style first pioneered commercially by New Order (Movement, 1981), only Andy Bell, twirling on stage in a toreador disguise, shows why they call it "gay": it's heaven blazing into the head! Looking forward to your second solo CD, Andy.
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