Hurts
O2 Academy, Glasgow
Nicola Love
Four stars
RENOWNED for enormous choruses and lovelorn lyrics, duo Hurts have been flying the flag for the darker side of synthpop since their inception seven years ago. That was until latest album Surrender, which debuted late last year to mixed reviews, appeared to show a step into the light.
If gospel-infused single Some Kind of Heaven and funk flavoured Lights are anything to go by, Hurts are truly basking in the sun – though the likes of Rolling Stone quickly makes it apparent that the band’s much-lauded intensity has not taken a backseat. Frontman Theo Hutchcraft says it best when he shouts, “We’re here to sing, dance and maybe even cry a bit.”
The set does not dwell solely on new material either. Taking gig-goers right back to humble(ish) beginnings, there is a rare outing of Affair, an impressive falsetto dominated track, and the ever slick Better Than Love, both taken from debut album Happiness.
There are just the right amount of theatrics too. The duo’s live band, an additional five musicians across drums, bass, backing vocals and keys, perform enthusiastically on a raised platform behind Hutchcraft and partner Adam Anderson. Hutchcraft spends much of the night tossing a stash of roses into the crowd, inciting the kind of mild hysteria usually reserved for boybands.
However perhaps the truest testament of the band’s live appeal comes in the form of a wary parent standing near the front of the stage. Supervising a pair of teenagers from a discreet distance, she goes from tentatively tapping her foot during the first few songs to a hip-wiggling dance by the encore. If the new album left critics lukewarm, performances like this should quickly heat them back up.
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