MUSIC

Tears for Fears' Curt Smith doesn't want to rule the world, but maybe change it a little

Alessandro Corona
Special to Cincinnati Enquirer
Tears for Fears plays in Cincinnati Friday, May 20.

English new wave rockers Tears For Fears bring their collection of chart-topping tunes, accumulated over four decades, to Cincinnati this week on Friday, May 20. Their new album, “The Tipping Point,” shows a nuanced focus on social issues and updates the duo’s sound palette through contemporary samples and production while preserving the band’s iconic pop sensibility. I recently had the honor of chatting with bassist and vocalist Curt Smith about the group’s evolution and influences, the 21st-century sound of “The Tipping Point” and the music’s place within a modern social context.

Q: I'm sure touring is a blur, but do you have any stories about making your way through Cincinnati?

A: My youngest daughter is at Kenyon College. So I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in Ohio – primarily Columbus and Gambier. I have a soft spot for it. When we were touring before, we didn't see much of cities because it was just so crazy. You get recognized all the time, or you have interviews all day, and it really wasn't conducive to enjoying touring. Nowadays we do all the interviews up front. And luckily we're of an age where people don't bother us that much. So I actually do get to see the places we play.

Q: “The Tipping Point” touches on so many new sounds. You've always been keen on blending new technology with analog instruments. Are there artists, especially newer ones, that have influenced your production process as electronic music has grown over the past few decades?

A: Everyone has the same samples, pretty much. You have access to the same pallet that everyone else does just on your laptop. So what used to take us forever to get sounds in the studio ... now it takes us a nanosecond. I would cite Bon Iver, one of the best producers today in the sense of the landscape he makes. I love Rex Orange County – more songwriters than anything else. I listened to the Cameo records, which I think are produced wonderfully.

Q: You were influenced by a wide range of English musicians. Was there something particular to the city of Bath that pushed you to make a sound that was all-encompassing?

A: We weren't in a scene. I think the one downfall of being in a music scene, which happened in places like London or Manchester, Birmingham, was that they tended to become a little homogenized. We dragged music from everywhere. Gary Numan was, I think, a bigger influencer when we started. 

I remember laying in bed with headphones on, listening to Peter Gabriel’s records, trying to work out how he did it – trying to pinpoint each track or sample, keyboard or what the bass was doing. Early on Roland and I got into production, and that was what interested us more than anything else.

Q: I saw your videos, "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Shout," on MTV during that channel's heyday. But the first time your music really hit me was on the Donnie Darko soundtrack with "Head Over Heels" and the cover of "Mad World" at a time when, particularly in the U.S., so much about the world was changing. So, first, how did MTV influence your career?

A: Prior to MTV, you're really only thinking about audio unless you go on TV and perform. But then it's just the band being filmed. So there's not any work that goes into that. MTV came along and videos came along where you really are starting to think about a visual representation. We were pretty crap at it to start with. We got better. And nowadays we really do get into the visuals. 

The three videos we've done for “Tipping Point” so far ... I love them. "Break the Man" is definitely about a male dominated society, and that desire for success and how women don't have an equal voice. Then “No Small Thing,” dealing with modern technology and climate change. "The Tipping Point," which was the first one, is about the ghost of Roland's wife. Caroline passed away in 2017. It's really to make a visual representation of what you get musically.

Tears for Fears started working on "The Tipping Point," their first album in 17 years, in early 2020.

Q: During the pandemic, you released an acoustic version of "Mad World," and I read it's influenced by "Primal Therapy." Your new album has a broader social context, especially pertaining to women's rights. What makes your music, and particularly “Mad World,” a timeless activist anthem?

A: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Diva, my daughter, and I did it, which went viral, but I think that was because it was a father and daughter in lockdown together. Back then, “Everybody Wants To Rule” was about the Cold War and the Falklands crisis. Now you're playing "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," and we have Russia invading Ukraine – "Mad World," the pandemic. 

We're not comfortable making music that doesn't say anything to us or mean anything to us. When we're happy, we're generally just enjoying being happy. Songwriting is that self-soothing thing where you feel angry or sad about something and you take to a guitar and you write about it, trying to condense it and make sense of it. Those kinds of songs tend to have a long shelf life because those emotions continue.

Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point World Tour, with Garbage

When: 7:30 pm, Friday, May 20.

Where: Riverbend Music Center, Anderson Township.

Tickets: $29.50-$49.50.