Faith ［7inch x 3+CD］＜Picture Vinyl＞

The fifth studio album by British duo Hurts, 2020s Faith is a dusky, slow-burn album that finds singer Theo Hutchcraft and instrumentalist Adam Anderson in a sanguine mood, taking their time to craft measured anthems, rife with an early-90-inspired goth and industrial production. Having started their career evoking the monochrome intensity of groups like Depeche Mode and New Order, Hurts quickly expanded their approach, embracing an ever more pop-oriented sound, dipping into contemporary R&B, 70s-style disco, and dance music. Produced by Hurts along with Martin Forslund and Joe Janiak, Faith is less upbeat than 2017s Desire and feels closer to their 2010 debut, albeit with a more organic, less claustrophobic aesthetic. The opening Voices is a dramatic gospel-inflected number that pairs an earthy acoustic guitar riff with a driving electronic pulse and dynamic backing vocals. Equally compelling is Suffer, a steamy Nine Inch Nails-sounding cut that spotlights Hutchcrafts knack for dark eroticism as he sings, Whisper your petty little epithets/And run your fingers down my body like a bayonet. While theres always been a certain level of Krautrock irony at play in Hurts sound, whats so compelling about it is the way it can become so earnestly emotive on a single heel-turn. Tracks like Slave to Your Love with its shimmering orchestral flourishes, and All I Have to Give with its uncluttered piano arrangement are sincere ballads that showcase the duos affinity for grandly romantic, cinematic pop gestures. That said, they arent afraid to take chances, as on the aptly titled Fractured, a deconstructed pop jam that sounds like a Janet Jackson song stripped back to vocals, bass drops, and percussion clicks. But despite the fair amount of low-key experimentation on display, Faith still feels, at its core, wonderfully familiar. This isnt an album where Hurts push to subvert their own sound, but theres clearly plenty of inspiration behind it -- divine or otherwise. ~ Matt Collar