Eurythmics
Touch

THE REVIEW

When thinking about the substantial synth-new wave of the Eighties, a well-defined and universally shared stereotype immediately flashes into the international collective imagination, perhaps a bit naive and reductionist, yet easy to understand: it was a vibrant and chic world, made of luminous accessories, glitter,
extravagant hairstyles, "futuristic" clothing cuts, and linked to probable electro-computerized scenarios. On one side, there was an attempt to recover the sparkle of the first disco era of the '70s, while on the other, they gathered the peculiarities of the then widespread post-punk environment, a mix that - despite the heterogeneous origins - immediately seemed to be adopted as a trademark of the neo-mainstream "bionic" line.

Yet, among the playful pop antics of those times, there were musical entities flirting with the new futuristic scene without dressing like their colleagues. Bands modest in attire and rich in production, simple in style and avant-garde in sound. The duo Annie Lennox-Dave Stewart was one of them: the melancholic soul of the pseudo androgynous Lennox, meeting the unassuming Dave, birthed the myth of Eurythmics, one of the musical dishes that best "tastes" of the Eighties, of that unmistakable aroma that made the decade of temporary social frivolity at 360° so beloved (and also suffered).

It's pointless to narrate the entire history of the band, which rose with the almost unnoticed debut of In The Garden and exploded two years later with the quintessential eighties-revival anthem, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). Touch, the album I present to you, is perhaps the studio work that best managed to resist the descent from the peak of the album and the eponymous single and suffered the least from the usual decline of productions following the great hit. Wrapped inside the most iconic cover of the early Lennox, the playful sadomasochistic diva - pre-evolution of the rock star in leather jacket of Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge and the ethereal soul muse of Medusa and Diva - Touch proposed the complete affirmation of the duo, the confirmation of their post-sweet dreams validity. Indeed, the album appears quite bold, focused, and determined, rooted in a more compact synthpop - new wave experimentation than the previous ones: the production turns out to be marked and spicy, the sounds rich and diversified, the atmosphere rarefied in a mischievous but refined electro-dark glow that will be further delved into in the misunderstood Savage of 1987.

The representative frame of the album closes in the three extracted singles, the most representative tracks: the famous Here Comes The Rain Again, one of the trademarks of Eurythmics, is a genuine jewel of midtempo synth-ambient of effervescent avant-garde introspection, the pseudo ballad Who's That Girl? introduces the better romantic Lennox of the still unknown solo vibrations, Right By Your Side is an odd and very frivolous standout track with evident funky-Latin inspirations.

But within Touch there's much more. Standing out among others are Paint a Rumour, a genuine example of genuine proto-techno-trance experimentation, Cool Blue and its dynamic nod to both disco and rock, No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts), a sort of more dark and enigmatic prelude to Here Comes The Rain Again, and Regrets, another exemplary minimalist electro-funk cabaret.

Approaching a decade as overly cheerful and carefree as the Eighties has nowadays become the quickest method to enrich clubs, with a slew of artists and pseudo-artists shamelessly drawing from that infinite cauldron of ideas, sounds, noises, and imagination. Miss Lennox and Mr. Stewart, although praised by the vintage-evergreen sector, have not yet become subjects of inflations, distortions, and tributes/plagiarism: one more reason to delve into a territory of sobriety and aesthetic rigor, but of much passion and creativity in front of the microphone and the synthesizer.

Eurythmics, Touch

Here Comes The Rain Again - Regrets - Right By Your Side - Cool Blue - Who's That Girl? - The First Cut - Aqua - No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts) - Paint A Rumour.