Label: Concord Records
Release date: February 25, 2022
Production: Tears For Fears, Carlton Pettus, Florian Reutter & Sacha Skarbek
Album length: 42.25 min
Genre: Art Rock / Art Pop
Rating: 9.5/10
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the unforgettable duo who became new wave legends as Tears for Fears in the eighties on the back of evergreens like “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Shout,” “Pale Shelter,” “Change,” “Head Over Heels,” “Woman in Chains” and “Advice For the Young at Heart” (to name just the most famous), are back with a brand-new studio album, “The Tipping Point.”
Outside the loyal fan base, it’s a lesser-known fact that Tears for Fears also made two excellent albums in the nineties, when, after Smith’s temporary departure, the band was more or less Orzabal’s solo project. At the turn of the new century, the long-awaited reunion of the two musicians then gave birth to the art-rock-tinged masterpiece “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending” (2004). Almost eighteen years passed between that record and the arrival of “The Tipping Point,” and plenty of fans had already given up on a new studio album, even though some of the new songs were written well before 2022. “Stay,” the closing track on “The Tipping Point,” for instance, first came out back in 2017 on the compilation “Rule the World: The Greatest Hits.”
The first musical ideas for “The Tipping Point” go back even further, to 2013, when the band’s management at the time started pushing the two musical masters to work with young musicians on the new album and make it as commercial as possible, with the most “modern sound” they could manage. That was supposed to win Tears for Fears a new target audience – apathetic millennials and an even more apathetic Gen Z. Orzabal and Smith, of course, were not thrilled about that kind of corporate pressure or the songs that came out of it, which, in their words, had little to do with the recognizable Tears for Fears sound, so the new album’s release dragged on unexpectedly. Things got even more complicated when Orzabal’s health deteriorated after his wife died in 2017, while Smith started seriously thinking about leaving again. Luckily, in 2019, after an enormously successful tour, the two shook off all the negativity, and Orzabal poured his grief for his wife into the lyrics of several “The Tipping Point” songs.
In keeping with the long-standing Tears for Fears tradition, the two old pals split the vocal duties between them from song to song and, besides co-producing, played most of the guitar parts, bass lines and keyboard textures. The rest was left to a small army of occasional collaborators, the best-known name among them being producer and songwriter Sacha Skarbek, who has worked with plenty of famous (mostly pop) artists over his career, such as Adele, Lana Del Rey, Duffy and Jason Mraz. Skarbek worked with Orzabal and Smith back when “The Tipping Point” had a very different sonic identity, as mentioned above, but the inseparable musical buddies still kept some of the creations from that “demo” phase, with the difference that they “aired them out” with some altered arrangements and a fresh mix. What says the most about this cult duo’s obsession with songwriting, arranging and production perfection is that this is only Tears for Fears’ seventh studio album, even though the band has existed since 1981.
The opening minute of the first track, “No Small Thing,” which also came out as a single, gives no hint that “The Tipping Point” is a contender for the title of new masterpiece. It sounds less like classic Tears for Fears and more like some kind of acoustic-leaning country pop, with someone like Taylor Swift easily imaginable on lead vocals. That deceptive impression changes fast, as the song shifts almost completely in style and atmosphere and turns out far more complex and deeper than the relatively simple intro. Orzabal and Smith described this track as the point of a fresh (re)start, after they’d been unhappy with the songs made in collaboration with younger producers.
The title-track synthpop treat, released as the new album’s lead single, finally convinces us that the unmistakable Tears for Fears are back. The lyrics were inspired by the death of Orzabal’s wife and his long years of suffering after the painful loss. The trademark vocal harmonies of the two singing heavyweights are what will especially enchant longtime fans. “Long, Long, Long Time,” like a few other tracks on “The Tipping Point,” features backing female vocal harmonies from guest singer Carina Round, which, paired with Orzabal’s and Smith’s vocals, create an exceptionally nostalgic mood. The same goes for “Break the Man,” the album’s third single, which in structure and vibe is the closest thing on “The Tipping Point” to the new wave/art pop of the eighties and could easily have appeared on the cult album “The Seeds of Love” (1989). A superb chorus, handled by Smith, and an almost danceable pulse, both soaked in a mysterious, nostalgic atmosphere, will win over every longtime fan in an instant.
By Tears for Fears standards, “My Demons” is a fairly punchy, rocking number packed with all kinds of synth textures. It nicely spices up the prevailing melancholy of most of the album and adds even more movement to the record’s already enviable stylistic eclecticism. “Rivers of Mercy” is a ballad with an almost ethereal, ambient feel, which Orzabal delivers with a very special emotional fire. For many it will bring to mind some of the solo work of the legendary Peter Gabriel. “Please Be Happy” is a shattering ballad with certain “Beatles-esque” ambient undertones, while rich orchestral arrangements and occasional jazzy saxophone passages flow harmoniously in the background. Interestingly, The Beatles are mentioned directly in the lyrics of the next track, “Master Plan,” which carries even more influences from the legendary Liverpool four, while the successful blend of rich vocal harmonies and dramatic symphonic arrangements will remind many of the cult art rock band Electric Light Orchestra.
“End of Night,” which is undoubtedly one of the album’s highlights, with its nostalgic vocal harmonies, new wave pulse and hypnotic chorus, is almost the perfect way to close the record, even though one more song follows. On the closing, aforementioned, deeply melancholic “Stay,” you can clearly hear where prog rock’s leading modern patron Steven Wilson borrowed ideas for some of his Porcupine Tree and solo material. You could debate for hours just how big an influence Tears for Fears have had on some of modern progressive rock and art rock.
A few words are also due for “Secret Location,” “Let It All Evolve” and “Shame (Cry Heaven),” that is, all three bonus tracks that appeared on various special editions of “The Tipping Point.” All three were made in collaboration with Skarbek and show how the new album might have sounded had the cult duo not changed their minds along the way and gone for a more traditional, recognizable Tears for Fears approach. That means all three are distinctly commercial compared to most of the “The Tipping Point” compositions. Even though at times they sound pretty far from the recognizable Tears for Fears sound and feel more like material for a side project, they come off very well and are worth a listen.
A Tears for Fears studio comeback is an extraordinary musical event, and it doesn’t happen all that often. Longtime fans have plenty of reasons to celebrate the release of “The Tipping Point,” because Orzabal and Smith have created yet another masterpiece in an almost flawless string of excellent Tears for Fears albums released over the past four decades. The fact that “The Tipping Point” became their biggest commercial success since “The Seeds of Love” surely didn’t surprise any longtime fan. Let’s hope Orzabal and Smith, who prove on every single “The Tipping Point” track that they’re not running out of great songwriting ideas, while sounding vocally like they’re still young men, keep delighting us with new music for a long time to come.
Author: Peter “Dr. Progrock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. No Small Thing
2. The Tipping Point
3. Long, Long, Long Time
4. Break The Man
5. My Demons
6. Rivers Of Mercy
7. Please Be Happy
8. Master Plan
9. End Of Night
10. Stay
Lineup:
Roland Orzabal – lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12, guitar, keyboards, programming, mixing (tracks 5 & 9)
Curt Smith – lead vocals on tracks 2, 3, 4, 7, 10 & 13, backing vocals on tracks 1, 5 & 11, bass guitar, keyboards, mixing (tracks 5 & 9)
Guest musicians:
Charlton Pettus – guitar, keyboards, programming, mixing (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 10 and 11)
Sacha Skarbek – piano on track 7, vocal production (track 3)
Florian Reutter – programming, vocal production (track 3)
Doug Petty – harmonica (track 1), Hammond organ (track 1), piano (track 6), string arrangements (track 7)
Carina Round – backing vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5 and 6)
Aaron Sterling – drums (tracks 1, 4 and 6)
Jamie Wollam – drums (track 1)
Max von Ameln – guitar (track 5)
Jason Joseph – vocal arrangements, choir (track 6)
Charles Jones – choir (track 6)
Jessi Collins – choir (track 6)
Lauren Evans – choir (track 6)
