Tears for Fears Detail First LP in 17 Years, ‘The Tipping Point’

Tears for Fears will release their first album in 17 years, The Tipping Point, on Feb. 25. The British art-pop band teased the project with the textured title track.

The shadowy song — inspired by the death of cofounder Roland Orzabal’s wife Caroline in 2017 — was cowritten by the singer and multi-instrumentalist with guitarist Charlton Pettus; production was handled by the band, Sacha Skarbek and Florian Reutter.

“So who’s that ghost knocking at my door? You know that I can’t love you more,” Orzabal and bandmate Curt Smith sing over a web of electronics, synths and echoing guitars. “What’s that shape climbing over my wall? / You know that I can’t love you more.”

“It came at a time when my wife was very ill,” Orzabal told Rolling Stone. “I was watching her become a ghost of her former self. So the song’s narrator is in a hospital ward looking at people about to cross the threshold that we call death.”

They paired the track with a moody, minimalist video featuring storm clouds, floating bodies and the duo singing in a dark room. You can watch below.

Tears for Fears detailed the long road to The Tipping Point in a statement. They described how, at the request of their previous management, they started making a new album — their first since 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending — “by committee with some of today’s hit songwriters.” But the band was displeased with the results, leading to a more satisfying vision for the record.

“Eventually, that pressure and tension divided us not just from our management, but from one another, too,” Orzabal said, noting their switch to new management. “Suddenly, for the first time in a long time, we felt like we had someone in our corner who understood what we were trying to do. We felt like we had somebody on our side. It was the first time in a long time that we decided 'We have to do this.'”

Smith elaborated on the closeness they feel, both creatively and personally, 40 years after they formed the band. “When you’ve known each other as long as we have, and have worked together as long as we have, there’s a bond there that becomes familial. So, it’s different from a friendship,” he said. “And it’s different from a marriage. It’s literally like that’s your brother. It’s the kind of bond that you can’t really break. It can fall apart at times. You separate for periods, which I also think is healthy, really. But in the end, we always seem to find each other again.”