The Tipping Point

Early in 2022, Tears For Fears will release "The Tipping Point", their 1st studio album in over 17 years. 7 years in the making, and well into their 5th decade as collaborators and friends, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith have defied the odds, seen off the doubters, jumped around between record labels, changed management, naval gazed, almost split up again, ditched the 1st version of the new album and have come back with a superb 10 track album that embraces the strengths of each band member and most importantly sounds like Tears For Fears.

"The Tipping Point" is full of brilliant pop songs that traverse darkness and light and at times chart both personal and global crises. Roland Orzabal says, “Before everything went so right with this album, everything 1st had to go wrong, it took years, but something happens when we put our heads together. We’ve got this balance, this push-me-pull-you thing, and it works really well”. Curt Smith agrees, “If that balance doesn’t work on a Tears For Fears album, the whole thing just doesn’t work. To put it in simple terms, a Tears For Fears record and what people perceive to be the sound of Tears For Fears, is the stuff we can both agree on”.

The band had initially started writing the new record with some of today’s hit songwriters, which was an idea suggested by Tears For Fears previous management and what Roland and Curt pithily refer to as 'speed dating'. This did not work out. Orzabal explains that “Eventually, that pressure and tension divided us not just from our management, but from one another too”.

But Tears For Fears regrouped and changed their management. The new team subsequently raved about the five songs Roland and Curt could agree on and with new purpose and inspiration they completed the album, which is largely produced by Orzabal, Smith and Charlton Pettus, although producers and songwriters Sacha Skarbek and Florian Reutter contribute to a few songs.

Album highlights include the disarming opener "No Small Thing" which takes the listener on a journey from campfire acoustics to full on widescreen production; the pure pop of "Break The Man", the irresistible stomper that is "My Demons", the plaintive and soulful "Rivers Of Mercy" and the rueful "End Of Nights". The album closes with "Stay", one of the tracks 1st included on the "Rule The World" greatest hits in 2017, there’s no sign of "I Love You But I’m Lost", the other new song on that compilation.

The standard 10 track version of "The Tipping Point" is available on CD, black vinyl LP and limited indie green vinyl. The retail deluxe CD features 1 bonus song, the Target US and Japanese editions will have 2 bonus songs.

The Tipping Point will be released on February 25th, 2022, via Concord Music.