If you look up the word ‘exile’ in a dictionary, you will most likely find synonyms such as banishment, displacement, expatriation and so on. However, British synthpop duo Hurts explore additionally the word through their second album, named the same way. Exile can be seen as a very opposite statement, compared to their debut album Happiness. If the first album is more of an initiation to the artistic world of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, the second album actually evokes the darker and more lonely side of the band, featuring a more personal and direct look on the human nature and its bias. Nevertheless, this synthesis between heavy and mystical sounds and story like lyrics is a win combination that strikes you from the very first song you hear, because of its unpredictability and originality. The album contains twelve new tracks, of which three have already been accompanied with videos – Exile, Miracle & Blind.
To some extent, we can extract that information even by just looking at the names of the songs on the back of the album. What is interesting here is that, even though the music tends to be very moody and at times ‘hard’, in terms of lyrics and expressivity, it still manages to bring some sort of solace to the audience. The balance that has been achieved in this album has already marked the success of Exile – in Poland the album has already received a Golden status. So, whether you want a fresh sip of music or just something to bring up your mood, Hurts can definitely do both with no difficulties.