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EVERYONE LOVES A HAPPY ENDING
(New Door)
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To paraphrase their biggest hit, the dramatic, vaguely arty British pop duo Tears for Fears began sowing the seeds of their reunion back in 2001, when they allowed filmmaker Richard Kelly to use several of their songs in his spooky Jake Gyllenhaal psychodrama Donnie Darko. Liberated from their iffy Big ’80s music videos, the songs of faith and devotion from singer Roland Orzabal and bassist Curt Smith struck a chord with younger listeners, and that helped persuade the estranged duo to give their partnership another go. (That and American singer Gary Jules’s hushed cover of TFF’s "Mad World," a smash hit from Darko soundtrack in Great Britain that refreshed the pair’s memory of royalty checks.) Everyone Loves a Happy Ending, the optimistically titled Tears for Fears reunion record, finds the songwriters’ knack for heart-tugging melodies intact. "Secret World" is a blue-eyed-soul beauty that’ll make you miss the New Radicals; "Closest Thing to Heaven" is a piano-led prom-night anthem for Me Decade devotees too old for electroclash. Orzabal and Smith have taken advantage of the increased availability of high-end recording equipment too; the opening title track — a dense fantasia of Beatles bounce, Queen quiver, and Supertramp stomp — is a small wonder of modest studio science. (Tears for Fears perform this Saturday, October 30, at the Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Place in Boston; call 617-931-2000.)
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