Concert movie & album

Tears For Fears: “We have matured with the music”

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Tears For Fears)

With "Tears For Fears Live (A Tipping Point Film)", Tears For Fears are releasing a concert film in cinemas. At the same time, the band, which was once founded in Bath, England, is releasing a new album, a mixture of live recordings and new studio material.

The fact that "Songs For A Nervous Planet" has been announced as Tears For Fears' first official live album is somewhat surprising. After all, there are already various live releases by the duo. However, according to Roland Orzabal, these were arranged by the record company at the time. "We had absolutely no control over it," said the 63-year-old singer and guitarist in an interview with dpa. The days when others determined what Tears For Fears released are long gone.

Surprised by the success
Alongside classics such as "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", "Mad World" and of course "Shout", the songs from the latest studio album "The Tipping Point" fit seamlessly into the setlist, including "No Small Thing" and "Break The Man". "We were pleasantly surprised or even pleasantly shocked that it landed in the top 5 worldwide," says Orzabal about the 2021 album.

"The Tipping Point" was well received by fans and critics. It also changed Tears For Fears as a live band. "Suddenly the new songs sounded better. We were suddenly a slightly different band. We also matured with the music," says Orzabal in comparison to two quasi-unofficial live albums. You see a completely different band playing than in the Massey Hall (1985) or in "Going To California" (1990).

No pure live album planned
Tears For Fears did not want to release a pure live album, the four studio songs were not to be bonus tracks. That's why they are placed at the beginning of the album and "not hidden", emphasizes bassist and singer Curt Smith (also 63). "They are a kind of updated statement about where we are as a band now."

For Smith, the concert film and album offer the chance to show a wider audience that they are a good live band. Are Tears For Fears underrated? "Well, underrated you could say, but I think unnoticed is more like it," he says.