Andy Bell Releases Solo Album

“Torsten, The Beautiful Libertine”

Erasure’s Andy Bell has announced the release of his sixth solo album ‘Torsten, The Beautiful Libertine’ on 4th March 2016. The black vinyl effect CD will be in a gatefold sleeve with a 20-page booklet containing all new photos. It’s released through Cherry Red Records. The Beautiful Libertine is the follow up to 2014’s groundbreaking and critically acclaimed album and Edinburgh Fringe Show ‘Torsten, The Bareback Saint.’

Andy states, “Torsten seems to me like a dream that has come true. I was told the piece was especially written with me in mind & I really believe that! So many aspects of the various songs resonate with parts of my life so I know I was there / am here. There is a melancholic beauty held within the songs & I think I’ve had enough heartache & painful soul searching to do them justice but have managed to retain a certain naïveté in spite of these experiences. Torsten bears witness to these scars.”

The character Torsten is described as a “polysexual semi-immortal”. Over time, he has had many lovers and friends who ultimately he has outlived. That he himself survives is a bittersweet truth, but it is with an increasingly melancholic emotional distance from people. The album is a wonderfully evocative exposition of the mind, mirth and mania of an ‘everyman’ who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. The songs effortlessly combine pop and theatricality in their lush arrangements and Andy’s voice has never been so dramatically expressive.

Andy states, “I love my Torsten … Even more now that he is becoming slightly unhinged…. Unraveling before our very eyes! I don’t believe that his spirit will ever be broken though; for all his lives & lovers & losses, the songs from the ‘Beautiful Libertine’ have a healing quality and a deep resonance that make you realise that he is putting everything into perspective and coping…just!”

Following the album’s release, songs from both Torsten albums will feature in the musical stage show “Torsten, The Beautiful Libertine” starring Andy Bell, Peter Straker and Lana Pillay at the Above The Stag Theatre in Vauxhall, London 2nd – 27th March 2016.

Andy Bell rose to fame in the mid-80s as the lead singer of famed synth-pop duo Erasure with Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo). They are currently in their 30th Anniversary year and have, to date, sold over 20 million albums worldwide – 5 of which were No.1 in the UK; they have also had 17 Top Ten UK singles. Personally, Bell took part in several charity recordings – many supporting AIDS related projects – and sang the role of Montresor in the opera The Fall of the House of Usher in 1991. He released his first solo album Electric Blue in 2005, followed by a second, Non-Stop, in 2010. A collaboration with dance duo Shelter resulted in the album ‘iPop’ being released in 2014. Andy was also one of the headline acts of the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival in 2014 with his critically acclaimed one-man show ‘Torsten, The Bareback Saint’. Flamboyant dance-pop icon Bell is openly gay and publicly announced being HIV positive in 1998.

1. Statement Of Intent

2. Beautiful Libertine

3. Loitering With Intent

4. This Town Needs Jesus

5. The Slums We Loved

6. Lady Domina Bizarre

7. (Oooh Baby, You’re So) Queercore!

With Lana Pillay

8. BJ4C9. I’m Your Lover

10. Rupert Drinks Vodka

11. We Were Singing Along To Liza

12. Photos Of Daniel

13. I Am The Boy Who Smiled At You

14. Bond Street Catalogues

15. My Precious One

16. To Have And To Hold

17. Statement Of Intent (Reprise)

Teaser clip for lead track from album ‘MY PRECIOUS ONE’ below:

Pre-sale link HERE.

Release date Friday 4th March 2016 – Album available as CD and Download Catalogue Number: SFE045

Tickets for Torsten, The Beautiful Libertine 2 – 27th March Above the Stag Theatre London available HERE.

http://www.andybell.com/