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INDUSTRY REPORT # 53

Catching up With

November 25th, 2025 by Traci Turner

Next month, Erasure’s Andy Bell will bring his Ten Crowns Tour to SoCal, and after seeing opening night in Nashville, I insist you attend.

“Ten Crowns,” Bell’s first solo album in 15 years, was released in May and it has everything you could want from the iconic frontman. “Breaking Through the Intersteller” had me closing my eyes and dancing at a rave in my head. “Don’t Cha Know,” also dancey yes, but it made me teary with the line, “It’s so hard to say hello when your whole world comes crashing down.” “Heart’s a Liar,” with Debbie Harry guesting on vocals, is an anthem thanks to, “Your heart’s a liar, liar, liar!” “Ten Crowns” is a delight – something not always delivered when half of a monumental duo branches out.

Recorded in Nashville, and produced and written with Grammy-winning producer Dave Audé, it was actually in progress for 12 years. With a bit of the gospel sound from Nashville blending in, “Ten Crowns” is full of dance and Eurodisco that makes for a fantastic night of live music. Plus, Bell sounds phenomenal; I cannot gush enough on his live vocals!

In addition to the “Ten Crowns” material, plus his newly-released cover of “Xanadu,” Bell will perform plenty of Erasure hits. He is joined by an incredibly talented band that includes Audé on keys, Jerry Fuentes on guitar, Chelsea King on vocals, and Sarah Tomek on drums.

As for Erasure, it looks like we will have new Erasure in the new year. We spoke to Bell about that and more, and as expected, he was just as charming as we hoped.

Traci: Andy, I am so excited to talk to you and I know press is not fun, so I’m going to start with a very tough question that is going to determine our entire interview.

Andy: Okay…

Traci: What was your last tattoo?

Andy: Well! My last tattoo is this one. (shows me the back of his hand) There, which is Nikola Tesla’s Universal Life Force. It’s based on the numbers 369, but there’s a whole plethora of things that you can read up about it.

Traci: It is lovely! I have been listening to “Ten Crowns” on repeat and I love it. It’s danceable, of course, because it’s you. I was surprised to learn “Don’t Cha Know” has a long history.

Andy: Yeah, it’s the oldest one. It’s really funny because sometimes when I’m making an album, usually the last song becomes the first single. And on a very odd occasion, the first song will be the first single. But it’s very difficult for us to choose. But we were writing, and I’m not sure how it came about, but we met through my current partner, Stephen, and he said, “Oh, I think you should meet this guy, Dave Audé, because he really likes Erasure. His favorite song is ‘Blue Savannah.’” So we went to LA and started doing some writing. He played me this piece of music. I said, “Oh, I really love this. It’s got something ethereal quality about it.” I promise you, I scribbled down a few notes, picked up the mic, and just sang through the whole song twice, and that was it. That’s the vocal that we’ve got on the song now, as it’s still.

Traci: Oh wow!

Andy: Yes. So really with that song, to me, it reminds me of… It is one of those “going to find yourself” songs or “where am I now” type of song. That was the beginning of the whole adventure, really, when you think about it. It was about climbing my own mountain, and somehow, I don’t know whether I reached the top or not. I’m not sure. But just having the courage to walk on your own and making your own path thing. That led the groundwork; I’m not sure why we even left it. We didn’t even consider it again, because after that we wrote “Aftermath (Here We Go)” [released 2014], and then “True Original” [released in 2016].

Andy paused and went on: But these songs were just popping out of my head with Dave’s tracks. And because I love dance music so much and remixes, it’s just in my blood. Because he loves electronics, I mean, all DJs mostly love electronics. So when you’re working with Vince, there’s synth collaboratives. All the people that use synth, they all talk synth, and I don’t speak synth. (chuckles) And Dave’s not like that. He seems to have this innate ability… Once you get to know each other and you feel comfortable with each other, he’ll just play you something that he thinks you might like. And I do, mostly. I do like it. And if I get a really good vibe from something, I can instantly almost sing.

Andy continued: The words take a while, and I feel with him no pressure. What’s nice is I feel a bit like I’m not trying to prove myself to anybody. I mean, for a long time in Erasure, I mean, Vince is my hero. He was my hero from being a teenager, being in music. I thought, of all the people in all the whole pop charts, “Who’s the coolest? Who would you like to work with?” And it honestly was Vince Clarke. So when I answered his advert and it was for him, I was like, “Thank you!”

Traci: Like I said, “Don’t Cha Know” is danceable, but your lyrics, “Will you catch me when I’m falling because I’m messing up down here?” I mean, that gave me tears.

Andy: Yeah, it’s one of those… I suppose it is a salvation song because everybody falls. We all make mistakes, everybody. And if you’re honest enough to admit those mistakes, because it’s the only way you’re going to learn, nobody’s ever right with a smile. And I love the whole imagery as well. There was one other song, I can’t remember what it’s called now, but it’s a bit about when you get knocked down on the floor, she just picks herself up and asks for more, which sounds a bit brutal, but in a metaphorical sense. So I love that feeling of you just get up, because you have to.

Traci: Exactly. It makes you stronger.

Andy: Yeah. And also the the hymnal quality of the song. So it’s almost like it’s a dance song, but it’s sang as a hymn.

Traci: You said the songs were just popping out of your head. How are you as a songwriter generally? Are you constantly writing stuff down, or you hear a melody, and then things come to you?

Andy: I do different things. Sometimes when I’m thinking of melodies, in the beginning with Erasure as well, I was doing lyrics, and then it would come up on the second album, I say to him, “I’ll try this bass line, do this bass line, and then I’ll put this guitar part.” And then we wrote “Sometimes” and then we wrote “Victim of Love.” So it comes in different ways. Usually, I’ll get a tune if I’m walking down the road and get into a rhythm walking. And unless I have my phone with me, I’m thinking, “Well, if it’s a good tune, it will stick in there or it will come back” because your mind remembers everything.

He paused and went on: Or otherwise, I’ll be just sitting here at home at night time and just wondering, dreaming, and the tune will come into my head just like that. And then other times I’ll just write down lyrics that’s completely nonsense or things that are on my mind, and sometimes they fit to other tunes. When I’m writing with Vince, if we’re lucky, we wrote “Chorus,” that all came together in one way, then “Ship of Fool” came together in one way like that. I hate pouring over lyrics. I don’t like to do that. So I call it auto-writing; if we write a song and then it’s just melody only with shapes made with the mouth, then I’ll try and fit the word to the shape of that sound, but that’s very difficult.

Traci: Are you ever torn about lyrics, like “Well, crap, does this go to Erasure or does this go to me?”

Andy: No. It’s all in my bag, but they’re always going to be for Erasure anyway. But you hope that when you’re inspired by a new tune, that a new lyric will come along with this as well, because that’s the inspiration. That’s what the tune gives you. I’m looking forward to seeing Vince next week. So we’re carrying on writing and what we’ve got so far, I’m quite excited about it. Vince has got it, but he hasn’t let me hear it yet. He doesn’t let me hear it yet until we’re together, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a bit like something that you’ve made that you like that’s not quite finished, but he’s going to show you the sample.

[Since this interview was conducted, Clarke and Bell performed a few secret shows in England and spent time working on the new album.]

Traci: And it’s your 40th anniversary next year, right?

Andy: It is next year, 40 years next year. Which everybody says it, “I don’t know where the time went!” I’m hooked on Pinterest and Reddit and you read these things that time’s not real, which I believe. (chuckling) It’s a human restraint. We have to contact each other somehow. So we made up this 24-hour clock. And we have working days and nights, and the sun goes down and comes back up again, hopefully.

Traci: Well we shall break up the work with singing at shows! When I first listened to “Ten Crowns,” besides the lovely vocals of Ms. Debbie Harry, I totally visualized people singing the “Heart’s a Liar” chorus like an anthem back to you.

Andy: Amazing. I just want loads and loads of people to hear it. And that’s quite tricky today with not having radio and all that stuff. But I think when you have such a beautiful, almost designer product because Debbie’s on there and everybody loves her, and she’s my heroine, it’s like a dream come true for me, really, a life ambition. I just feel really special to have her there. And I just say thank you. I say thank you to her because she didn’t have to.

Traci: I forgot who I was interviewing recently, but it hit me mid-interview. The bands of my generation, it used to be a big deal to get your song on the radio. You remember where you were that first time, and new bands don’t really have that much anymore. Even established artists like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, where is their new material being played?

Andy: There was much more music on the TV before, and now TV is going down the pan a bit. So everything always changes. Art mediums change. The record industry has changed. Consumption has changed. So I believe we’ve gone from analog to digital to digital and now to streaming. And it’s like people that have their original masters. It’s the same as having an Andy Warhol that he painted. And then there are all the prints, which is all the digital copies. And now streaming is like free for all. So it’s hard to keep tabs on those things and who are the counters and who owns what. It’s the Wild West, really, all over again. But I just feel honored just to still be making music, to make a living, and to be able to go out and do a tour when people come, really.

Traci: Your outfits are always amazing, so what are you going to be wearing?

Andy: I’ve got this special suit that’s been made, and it’s almost a holographic suit. I really feel like when the spotlight comes on and the first song is “Interstellar,” I walk on and it’s almost as if I’m being beamed down by the Star Trek [transporter]. I feel more like now I’m in my own power or owning my own power thing, and you step onto the stage and the stage is sacred ground because so many people have been there before you. It’s an experience, and that’s what it’s going to say about what you were hinting at before; that now music has become a solo experience rather than people coming together and listening to the radio shows, like you have an audience of so many millions or watching a TV show, to a solo experience in the headphones, which I think has damaged society quite a bit. When people come together for these shows, it’s a great shared experience.

Traci: I am making it a point to see as many shows as I can now because music brings me such joy and I took it for granted. During COVID and the lockdowns, I watched concerts of my favorite bands – which included Erasure – and music is what got me through, so thank you for that.

Andy: I’m very happy, hon. Music is the answer. It is.

Do not miss your chance to see Andy Bell make you forget the outside world and bring enough energy to blow the roof off intimate venues. Catch the Ten Crowns Tour December 10th in San Diego at Music Box, and December 12th and 13th in Los Angeles at The Fonda Theatre.

TO FOLLOW

SID 251126 | JIMMY ALVAREZ | EDITOR