Surrender

By the end of 2010, and after 6 single releases, extensive promo touring, many awards, and international recognition, the proud fathers of the most sophisticated pop album that year, "Happiness", Hurts were hailed as the most promising new adult pop act in a long time. 3 years later, their sophomore "Exile", with its rockier, raw and aggressive sound, a complete contrast to the polished pop of their debut, presented a much darker side, surprising most of the cult who followed them. 3 records in, pop-noir duo Hurts' sound is further progressing, showing a band that never sits still, refusing to regurgitate old sounds. Determined to move forward and establish themselves furthermore, with assistance from regular collaborator Jonas Quant, and hot-shot producers Stuart Price and Ariel Rechtshaid, they have produced a highly textured effort, with a variety in pace and instrumentation to keep fans of their big drama pop happy, and exciting enough to attract some new ones, as well."Surrender" for the most part showcases all of the key components that we love from Hurts, enhanced, or enriched. Their signature epic-sounding synth-pop of heartbroken lyrics and melodramatic vocals is here interspersed with some uplifting tunes, often moving towards a dancier direction. Some occasionally naive lyrics, and a couple of tracks that sound formulaic, make the new album slightly uneven in comparison with its predecessors. Thankfully, these two missteps do not spoil the set much. Beginning with a stirring gospel-tinged intro, it is a record packed with highlights, such as lead single "Some kind of Heaven", the Daft Punk-esque "Lights", the soaring "Nothing will be bigger than us", the mesmerizing "Lights", and closing ballads "Wings" and "Wish", both of which exhibit the grandeur of the Hurts we first came to know. Going further into even more mainstream pop territory, and balancing the broody darkness of previous records with a new-found optimism, "Surrender" is a confident album that is made to satisfy and excite. And it succeeds.Note: Whoever decided to release this in the US in December (1 week before Christmas, and 2 months after its official release date in most countries), they have done a great job at ruining any chances of it charting, what a shame!

I'm obsessed with Hurts! I cant believe they are superstars in the USA yet. They are incredible, Theo has the best voice I've ever heard, and their videos are fabulous

Don't let anyone tell you differently, this album is the bee's knees. Its different from they're other stuff and that's ok :) its funky, mellow, sad, and awesome if I could rate it higher itd be like at least 11 melons out of 4 melons.

LOVE HURTS! This album is the best (all of them are the best anyway). I love their style and Surrender is a new blend of their dark sense and pop hype music.

Great vinyl came with the deluxe edition CD!

great to have access to a rare item in the states

Excellent

Great album and excellent service from Amazon!

First of all, ignore those reviews giving a one star-rating simply because Amazon mis-advertised it as two CDs. This IS the deluxe edition. It has thirteen tracks, the standard edition has only ten. It is unfair to rate an album poorly just because Amazon made a mistake. I mean, what's wrong with people?!?Anyway, I'm really enjoying this album already having only owned it for a day. I loved 'Happiness', which is an album I still play regularly. I wasn't so keen on 'Exile', as I found it a bit downbeat and maudlin.'Surrender', I'm glad to say, is almost entirely up-tempo and even the slower tracks have quite catchy melodies.Its much more 'pop' I think, than their previous two albums, and dare I say that word: 'commercial'.... 'Nothing Will Be Bigger' could even be described as a dance track.By the way, the three bonus tracks on the deluxe edition are well worth the extra few quid in my opinion; 'Policewoman,' which is one of them, is one of the best songs.I don't know whether this album will achieve much commercial success...I may be wrong, but it doesn't seem Hurts are particularly well promoted. I feel like I have to seek out their releases, rather than them come to me, if you know what I mean...Anyway, I'm well pleased with this... Good job boys!

I have been a fan of their music since their 1st album. Their current and 3rd album is brilliant but make sure you buy the deluxe version as the extra tracks are superb. I have listened to it regularly since it was released last year and cannot tire of it.However I feel so sorry for the 2 lads and feel they have been totally let down by their marketing Department. I bought the album from Amazon but when it failed to make an impression in the charts I checked the large supermarkets and none were selling it!As an Anazon prime member I enjoy the fact that 95%+ of CD's I buy are immediately auto ripped onto my iphone in the amazon music app. This did not happen with this album and when I queried it with Amazon the answer I got suggested the record company had blocked it! This had not been the case with the 2 previous albums.I hope that Hurts continue to produce this quality of music and that their music company make a better effort at ensuring they get the success they deserve.

Loved Hurts from the start! For me the debut album is still the best however this is still very good.The songs are almost all upbeat and some quite dancy which is a bit of a change from Exile. Songs Wish and Wings are more "old style" hurts which i love best. Rolling Stone is also a hit for me off the album. I can't stop listening to Slow- I love Theo's voice.Overall I do like this album and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again in Feb. I feel this is the most varied album they've made so far.Nice one Theo & Adam! X

An Amazing album. i have no faults on this album nor do i understand why people in other reviews feel the need to compare it to happiness and exile. ALL THREE albums are amazing in their own way and i have no faults with either. A diehard hurts fan or not i would recommend buying this album it is amazing and such a contrast to the other two albums which makes it more enjoyable.I wish "Surrender" as a song had a little bit more two it but thats just because i love the melody to the song.

I'm a Hurts fan anyway (brilliant Exile concert in Glasgow), so it's worth buying it, but maybe not quite as good as 'Exile' or their previous, but very close. This isn't about "beating" previous albums, or competing with them, but more about evolving their style & mood, so it's in a similar style, but not the same. sometimes albums just hit the spot because of their timing or what's going on in your life. ok? If you like their earlier stuff, just buy it! Hope they don't change too much.