Exile

The sophomore record from Hurts, the UK duo made up of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, is a towering collection of anthemic electronic-pop with enough grandeur to soundtrack the next Bond film.

Drama pervades the entire 12-song tracklist and the listener is constantly confronted by dark themes painted with equally morose imagery. It’s the antithesis of “Wonderful Life” from their debut EP, Happiness, and the duo have evidently made a point of exploring the other end of the emotional spectrum.

Beginning with the eponymous track, the immense scale of Hurts’ sound becomes immediately apparent. Hutchcraft’s silky falscetto signals something ominous looming in the background before, alas, the sudden arrival of pounding double-kick drums, mind-shaking synths and the apocalyptic line, “We’ll say goodbye girl/And watch as the world burns”.

Its successor, lead single “Miracle”, achieves an even greater colossal atmosphere with the added “oo”s and a soaring chorus spearheading it to a truly anthemic height rivalling the likes of stadium heroes Coldplay or U2.

After the refreshing outlier “Sandman”, which adopts hip-hop inspiration and even uses the same catchy snare drum as heard in Rihanna’s “Umbrella”, Exile does have its lagging moments and at times it feels like they’ve become lost in the sheer expansiveness of their synth pop.

Hurts make things bigger, but it doesn’t always translate to being better. The enormity often comes off as cold and manufactured, but their ambitious gargantuan sound is impressive nonetheless.

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