Erasure was the seventh studio album by Erasure

Erasure

Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...

, released in 1995. It was produced by Thomas Fehlmann

Thomas Fehlmann

Thomas Fehlmann , is a Swiss-born composer/producer who currently lives in Berlin, and has been active in electronic music as far back as the 1980s. He is currently active on the Kompakt record label based in Germany...

 and Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones (music producer)

Gareth Jones is an English music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Erasure.-Background:Gareth Jones is married and currently living in North London....

.

An overtly experimental and introspective album, Erasure contains eleven, mostly mid-tempo tracks that differed from their past output of shiny, three-minute pop songs. Most tracks clocked in at five minutes or more, several contained long synth interludes, and guest artists included the London Community Gospel Choir

London Community Gospel Choir

The London Community Gospel Choir is a successful gospel choir located in the United Kingdom.-History:The London Community Gospel Choir was founded in 1982 by the Reverend Bazil Meade with the assistance of Lawrence Johnson, Delroy Powell and John Francis.Initially the idea was for a single concert...

 and performance artist Diamanda Galás

Diamanda Galás

Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...

.

Although appreciated for its experimental nature, Erasure marked the beginning of Erasure's slide from the peak of their popularity in the mainstream music world. Coming off four consecutive number-one albums in the UK, this album failed to hit the top ten and two single releases also missed the UK top ten. After a successful top twenty debut on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 for their previous album I Say I Say I Say

I Say I Say I Say

I Say I Say I Say is the sixth studio album from synth pop duo Erasure, released in 1994 by Mute Records in the UK and Elektra Records in the U.S...

, Erasure debuted and peaked at number eighty-two in the U.S. and generated no Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles. In Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 the album also peaked lower than previous albums, at number eighty-seven.

Some polls have shown this album to be a favourite among fans of the band.

Track listing

1. "Intro: Guess I'm Into Feeling" (Clarke/Bell) - 3:38
2. "Rescue Me" (Clarke/Bell) - 6:10
3. "Sono Luminus" (Clarke/Bell) - 7:51
4. "Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)
   Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)
   "Fingers & Thumbs " is a song by British synth pop duo Erasure. The track originally appeared on the soundtrack to the documentary film Wigstock: the Movie as the track titled "Cold Summer's Day". Erasure re-recorded the track for their album Erasure with new lyrics...
   
   " (Clarke/Bell) - 6:44
5. "Rock Me Gently" (Clarke/Bell) - 10:01
6. "Grace" (Clarke/Bell) - 5:54
7. "Stay with Me" (Clarke/Bell) - 6:43
8. "Love the Way You Do So" (Clarke/Bell) - 6:43
9. "Angel" (Clarke/Bell) - 5:32
10. "I Love You" (Clarke/Bell) - 6:29
11. "A Long Goodbye" (Clarke/Bell) - 5:34

Chart performance

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart	33
Canadian Albums Chart	43
German Albums Chart	87
Swedish Albums Chart	26
UK Albums Chart	14
US Billboard 200	82

Personnel

• Andy Bell
  Andy Bell (singer)
  Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue.-Early life:Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough...
  
   – vocals
• Vince Clarke
  Vince Clarke
  Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
  
   – synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  s, programming
• Diamanda Galás – vocals
• Paul Hickey – background vocals
• Ruby James – background vocals
• London Community Gospel Choir – choir, chorus

Production

• Dave Bascombe – mixing
• Blaise Dupuy – engineer
• Thomas Fehlmann – producer
• George Holt – engineer
• Ian Huffam – mixing assistant
• Gareth Jones – producer
• François Kevorkian – mixing
• Mike Marsh – mastering
• Patrick McGovern – mixing assistant
• Ashley Potter – illustrations
• Lloyd Puckitt – mixing
• Sly Smith – artwork
• Andy Strange – mixing assistant