British duo Hurts emerged in 2010 with Happiness, an album of fashionably minimalist, '80s-influenced electronic pop, expertly showcasing lead singer Theo Hutchcraft's moody croon and Adam Anderson's evocative arrangements -- which they smartly, and somewhat cheekily, promoted via a handful of stylishly throwback black-and-white videos. It all read as an inspired pastiche of Violator-era Depeche Mode crossed with Actually-era Pet Shop Boys, gorgeously melancholy and elegantly cold. But the brilliant part was that they contrasted this icy vibe with tightly constructed songs, most of which bore a streak of unexpected uplift within the music's emotional drama. It's that uplifting streak the duo seize and run with on their fourth full-length album, 2017's deeply romantic Desire. Musically speaking, as with their other post-Happiness albums, Desire finds Hurts continuing to expand their artistic scope, touching upon elements ranging from anthemic pop ("Wherever You Go") and piano-driven balladry ("Something I Need to Know") to disco-funk ("Boyfriend"). There's a sophistication to the productions on Desire that finds them balancing stripped-down keyboard and vocal duets like the tender "Chaperone" with more ambitious arrangements like the steamy, Prince-esque "Wait Up," with its jazz trumpet coda. But of course, the most obvious difference is that while past albums mined emotions like heartbreak, fear, and isolation, Desire is characterized by optimism and joy, like a neon love letter to the band's fans. Cuts like the opening "Beautiful Ones," with its slowly building four-on-the-floor beat, and the effusive "Thinking of You" are airy, ebullient anthems seemingly composed in the sway of passion. That passion is particularly brought to cinematic life on the flamenco-accented "People Like Us," in which Hutchcraft embraces his lover like a "scene from an old Italian movie," and sings "All around the world/People like you and me falling in love." Even when it comes to the few breakup songs on the album, like "Walk Away," Hutchcraft and Anderson can't help but frame the sentiment in bubbly synths and an infectious "Dancing on the Ceiling" dance pulse. Admittedly, Desire is the least monochromatic of the band's albums. If they've evinced fealty to Stock, Aitken & Waterman's bubblegummy '80s work with artists like Kylie Minogue (she appeared on Happiness), then Desire goes even further to embrace a sound that largely eschews goth cool in favor of buoyant, feel-good hooks. That abundance of pop sweetness on Desire might be a bit much if it weren't so deftly balanced by their knack for wryly drawn details. On the groover "Ready to Go," Hutchcraft sings of the song's capable teen femme fatale, "She's looking at everybody with a secret smile/She's got a black tattoo on her body, and it says,'When I die, yeah, you know I'll be ready to go'." Hurts have never shied away from grandiose musical gestures, something fans of their deeply emotive live shows and theatrical videos can attest to. With Desire, they've found a way to capture that amorous pop intensity and send it flooding back toward their audience. As Hutchcraft sings over the ring of a gospel chorus on album closer "Magnificent," "This love of ours, it's something brilliant."
© Matt Collar /TiVo