Released: February 25
It’s been 18 years since Tears For Fears released their last album, ‘Everybody Loves a Happy Ending’, but Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith pick up right where they left off on their latest collection, ‘The Tipping Point’.
Preceded by its lead single and title track, the album feeds into the history of the band, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, referencing the pair’s journey to create the record along with key musical moments from their storied career.
Leading the pack, the song, The Tipping Point, harkens back to two of their biggest hits: Head Over Heels and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
It’s a welcome return from the group whose songs soundtracked much of the ‘80s, but ‘The Tipping Point’ is far more than an exercise in nostalgia, spanning pop, rock and trip influences for a sonic journey from their teenage beginnings through to the present day.
Opener No Small Thing begins as an acoustic ditty before building into a big band moment, while My Demons is a Muse-style, stadium-sized rocker, showcasing a different side to the band.
Some songs are personal to the band, detailing Rolan’s heartbreak following the death of his first wife Carol (The Tipping Point) and creative conflicts with their former management (Master Plan), while others speak to global issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement (Rivers of Mercy).
Each member’s musical views are drastically different, but the common ground between Curt’s singer-songwriter sensibilities and Roland’s rhythm-led approach to writing has always resulted in magic.
Now, four decades into their relationship, the duo has never sounded so good and, with new music and world tour to look forward to, the future of Tears For Fears looks reassuringly bright.
‘The Tipping Point’ is available on CD, Deluxe CD and vinyl. A Super Deluxe Edition CD is also available, along with signed CDs.
Read our full interview with Tears For Fears in the Retro Pop 2022 Preview Special, out now. Get yours here: Retro Pop Store.
READ MORE: Tears For Fears: ‘New album ‘The Tipping Point’ almost pushed us over the edge’
