Review – Closer

The good: English singer Kim Wilde returns with her 15th (first in seven years).
The bad: Nope.
The nitty gritty: Seen as a two-hit wonder here in the States, Wilde was always much bigger in the UK and Europe. So for us North Americans, this album is literally coming out of nowhere. Yet it’s a late-career effort that’s far better than it should be. Produced by Ricky Wilde, the singer’s brother and the man behind the board since the very beginning, “Closer” is a shockingly relevant collection that’s thankfully more new wave (“Kids in America”) and less glossy ’80s pop (“You Keep Me Hanging On”). Wilde’s voice is strong and the songs, mostly written by Kim and Ricky, are equally solid. Cuts like “Scorpio” and “Trail of Destruction” are punchy, danceable new wave. “Love is Love” might be the best Erasure song Vince Clarke never wrote. Ballads such as “Savasana” bring on the drama without turning into schmaltz. Wilde even invites fellow ’80s legend Midge Ure (Ultravox) to a session for the sweeping “Sorrow Replaced”.
Buy it? Oh yes.