Vince Clarke finished work on tracks for Erasure’s next album before starting on his new solo LP.
The synth-pop legend’s new record, ‘Songs Of Silence’, arrives November 17 and is an instrumental collection worlds away from his pop classics.
However, it doesn’t indicate a new direction for the former Depeche Mode and Yazoo star, with Vince revealing there’s a whole new set of Erasure tracks waiting for Andy Bell to complete.
Having started work on the songs straight after the band’s UK tour in support of ‘The Neon’ (2020) – their highest-charting album in almost 30 years – he tells RETROPOP’s December issue: “When I came home after that UK tour, the first thing I did was I started working on the next Erasure album.
“So I formulated some backing tracks, thinking that that would be the next thing that we would do, and that’s now ready for Andy to come and put some magic on it.”
On when the tracks will be completed, he continues: “[Andy] mentioned he’ll be coming to New York in November, so that’s when we’ll start working together and solidifying those songs.
“Hopefully he’ll like what I’ve done because I’ve not sent any of the stuff to him yet!”
In the meantime, he’s focussed on ‘Songs Of Silence’, which was born during the Covid-19 lockdown in New York at a time of boredom, when Vince “did a couple of online history courses, nearly learned how to do the samba – almost – then thought, ‘Why don’t I look into this style of music?’”
“I’m a big fan of science fiction films and this whole album started when I saw ‘Blade Runner 2049’,” he shares. “I really got into it and I was listening very carefully to the soundtrack and that got me going, because I’ve always wondered how people do instrumental tracks that are still interesting without a traditional vocal or traditional verse-chorus style arrangement.”
However, he doesn’t see a future for himself in film composing. “I spent some time in LA talking to various film music people a few years ago and I did lots of meetings, but I came away thinking that I really didn’t want to be in that world,” he admits.
However, there are some smaller projects on the horizon just now, including composing for screen and video games.
“I’m working with someone quite soon on a very small musical part for an art-style film that’s coming out and I’ve been approached to maybe do some music for ‘Grand Theft Auto’, which interests me because I don’t understand the technology and I like to learn,” adds Vince.
“So I may be doing some things for those people, but I prefer little projects like that because I get to learn new things and I thrive on that.”
Read the full interview in the December 2023 edition of RETROPOP, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
