HURTS #5 - "Wonderful Life" Single Review

For me it's a great week for music this week. Wildbirds & Peacedrums release "Rivers", Zola Jesus releases "Stridulum II", The Strange Death of Liberal England release their single "Rising Sea" and finally we have the release of the "Wonderful Life" by Hurts.

I first featured "Wonderful Life" back in November 09 so it really has been a long time coming...

Now HURTS get a lot of stick, to be honest I'm not sure why. Maybe because they are signed to a major, maybe because they carry a certain image, or maybe just because one person has done it, so the rest smell a bandwagon. I care not for any of that, I care about the music and to me HURTS are one of the best pop acts about. It's no Lady Ga Ga. This is dark, gloomy, reliving 80's synth-pop.

The songs I've heard are brilliant. "Unspoken", "Blood, Tears & Gold", "Illuminated", "Silver Lining" - it seems the hit singles are ready. I've seen them live three times already and they have a few more too "Sunday" and "Stay" are anthems. I found "Better Than Love" to be an odd choice of first single, it's more dance-oriented and less dark than so many of the others. "Wonderful Life" is the song you would pick to introduce someone to HURTS and for that reason it made sense to start off there.

HURTS exude an embodiment of class rarely seen these days, styled on the Pet Shop Boys it maybe,  but this is music for 2010. Wonderful Life tells the tale of a suicidal man saved by love at first sight on the Severn Bridge. Noirish synths and a huge drum procession erupt into a beautifully melancholy pop chorus with dark lyrics - "Don't let go/ Never give up/ It's such a wonderful life"...

It's backed by the wonderful power ballad "Affair" - listen to that below: Buy it now.

10/10

HURTS - Affair by morrisday

See HURTS live too, they have an on-stage Opera singer (honestly) and it really is fantastic...

...and here is that original video to "Wonderful Life"...