Album premiere: Erasure's 'The Violet Flame'

Any act that has been around as long as Erasure is bound to have seen some ups and downs, both commercially and creatively.

The British synthpop duo, best known for '80s and '90s hits such as Chains of Love and A Little Respect, finds itself on the upswing with The Violet Flame, premiering at USA TODAY.

And Andy Bell knows it. "We've definitely found our mojo again with this record," says the singer, who formed the group with former Depeche Mode/Yazoo keyboardist Vince Clarke in 1985.

Bell and Clarke introduced the new music in July with Elevation, a single that suggested The Violet Flame, out Sept. 23 in the USA, was headed in exactly the direction the duo's fans might expect in EDM-friendly 2014.

"It's very celebratory," says Bell, noting that it was the last song written for the duo's 16th studio album. "It's one of those hand-in-the-air (tunes), saying, 'Hi, we're all here and we're all together and we're all having a great time.' "

Clarks and Bell wrote the material for the dance-oriented album on synthesizers, a first for them.

"We've always been very traditional on guitar and piano," Bell says. "Vince gets worried, because he says you have to have a very strong melody. I can understand that.

"Sometimes, when we're writing on guitar, as soon as I hear those chords, I fall into folk mode when I'm trying to think of a melody. That's why a lot of our songs are quiet and very melodic, a bit melancholic.

"This time, because we wrote on the synths, Vince came up with some dance riffs. I just sang along with those, so it was much more immediate. We also did the writing in Miami rather than New York, so it was much warmer."

Erasure worked on The Violet Flame with Richard X, who also produced last year's holiday album, Snow Globe. Bell says Be the One reminds him of the music from that album, though they didn't write the song until after Snow Globe's completion.

Erasure kicked off its Violet Flame tour last week in Miami, playing three songs from the new album — Elevation, Reason and Sacred, which Bell says might be his favorite.

"I love that Eurotrance sound," Bell says. "It was another one of those uplifting songs."

Paradise also has that sound, perhaps something Giorgio Moroder would have imagined. "I really love all his work with Donna Summer," Bell says. "I love the feeling of those arpeggiated synths, rhythms just going on. Or the sequences going on and vocal on top. That's sublime. Especially with Donna. She reached her peak with that.

"That was the idea behind Paradise. I was channeling Donna quite a bit — and Grace Jones, as well."